


Dangerous Soul

by Zora_The_Dragon



Category: Pocket Monsters: HeartGold & SoulSilver | Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver Versions
Genre: Death, Gen, Johto, Nuzlocke, Pokemon Language, Shiny Pokemon, Shiny tentacool - Freeform, dream - Freeform, father left because daughter is weird, mom is supportive though, more tags and characters will be added as the story progresses, pokenese, shiny, soulsilver, understand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 135,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27442606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zora_The_Dragon/pseuds/Zora_The_Dragon
Summary: (A Pokémon SoulSilver Nuzlocke story)A young girl reaching 10 years finally becomes a Pokémon Trainer. However, she discovers she has a condition called Nuzlocke and has the ability to understand Pokénese. In return, all her owned Pokémon will die if they lose in battle. According to rumors, the only way to cure this condition is by defeating the Champion of her region; Lance.Can this girl defeat the Johto League? Or will she meet inevitable defeat?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. The Message

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to do a Pokémon Nuzlocke for so long, and then I started a Black Nuzlocke and got stuck at level 26-28 at the fourth Gym and haven't continued it for a month or two.  
> Then I watched JaidenAnimations and her two Nuzlockes, and I got inspired to make my own story of a full Nuzlocke, but being in SoulSilver instead. I would have done it with Black if it wasn't because I'm already too far in to reset.  
> Instead of a video or comic (which both take too long and too much effort), I decided to write a "novel" of sorts instead.  
> Because I love writing, as you know! XD  
> I will be writing the chapters as I play through the game, so I have no idea how this is going to turn out, if I'm going to win or not. Everything depends on chance.  
> I will apply these rules to my Nuzlocke:  
> Fainted Pokémon are dead, I can only catch the first non-dupe Pokémon on a route (gift Pokémon other than the Primo eggs don't count here), I can trade to evolve but otherwise no trading, no breeding, no over-leveling, no Pokéwalker, only 1 fossil, I can only buy 1 Pokémon at the game corner and I can only choose 1 of the interactable Pokémon at the Rocket Hideout.  
> The Nuzlocke begins when I get Pokéballs, I lose it if I wipe and have no Pokémon left in my box, I win when I beat the Champion.  
> I will also catch Static, Shiny and Legendary Pokémon as trophies but not use them in my run unless they are my first encounter in an area. And finally, caves and the Ruins of Alph are both considered as one area each, even the inside and outside of the ruins and all the floors in a cave.  
> And that's pretty much it. I've spent all day today taking notes and preparing for the Nuzlocke, then late this evening I wrote this intro to the story. I will begin the Nuzlocke tomorrow when I get up and get breakfast.  
> As always, I hope you will enjoy this story and that you will follow me on this journey of mine.  
> Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the intro...

_So you wish to understand Pokémon? You want to know what they say and understand how they feel, to be equals and have mutual respect?_

_Very well. I shall grant you that wish._

_However, nothing in this world is free. No power comes without a cost._

_You shall gain the ability to understand Pokémon better than any other human being._

_In return, however, your own Pokémon will no longer be protected. They are as vulnerable as you are, child._

_Use your new power wisely._

* * *

That was the dream Zora had, one month before her birthday. She was reaching ten years, which meant she could legally become an official Pokémon Trainer and venture into the world, challenging the Johto League.

Zora was not originally from Japan, but her family had moved to Johto when she was only two years old and thus felt as Japanese as anyone else living in the country.

Zora loved Pokémon. Ever since she was four years old and got her first Pokémon, an Eevee named Fluffy, she wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer. Her parents, however, would not let the young girl traverse the region of Johto just yet. She stayed home, went to school and played with Fluffy when she got home.

At seven years of age, Zora - and everyone else in the southeastern part of Honshu - followed the journey of a young Kantonian boy named Red, as he, at ten years of age, set off on his own quest: To catch all the Pokémon.

Zora admired Red, as did everyone else. Kanto was situated east of Johto, the two regions bordering each other, unlike most of the more 'popular' regions in the world, that all had their own Pokémon Leagues.

Within just a few months, Red had singlehandedly taken out Team Rocket in Kanto, who were stealing Pokémon from various Trainers and non-Trainers, in some sort of plot to take over the world. Furthermore, Red did indeed manage to capture all the Pokémon of the Kanto region, including the extremely rare and elusive Legendary Pokémon, which a few lucky witnesses managed to leak to the press.

Furthermore, Red managed to beat the Pokémon League and become the first Champion of Kanto in years. That was three years ago, and no one had heard from him since. In fact, most people were starting to forget about the boy from Pallet Town.

But not Zora. She watched recordings of the footage of each of Red's Gym battles over ten times, studying his strategies and battle style. She had never seen such a perfect Trainer. And she wanted more than ever to become one herself.

Then, one month ago, before her birthday, she had this strange dream of an unknown sillhouette appearing before her, telling her about some sort of power and a consequence, but what she did not remember.

However, that same morning, she awoke to another strange voice she had never heard before. As she opened her eyes, her Eevee, Fluffy, stood on her like he usually did in the morning. And then he _spoke_. In _human_ words.

"Morning, Zora!" Fluffy had said. "Let's play!"

Zora had been absolutely shocked to understand what Fluffy said. And even more mystified when she got downstairs and learned neither of her parents understood what Fluffy said. They in turn learned she could understand what the Eevee said and had a hard time believing it. So much that her father decided to leave, thinking her daughter had gone crazy. Or maybe he was searching overseas for some sort of doctor that could 'cure' her of this madness. Either way, Zora's father disappeared and hadn't returned since.

"Don't listen to him, dear," Zora's mother said the day after her father left, the same day she had her dream. "I think it's a wonderful ability you have gained. Being able to understand Pokénese! You're going to be an amazing Trainer, I know it!"

Zora was cheered up by her mother, and soon they started pretending the father had never lived with them. And Zora was starting to like this new ability and decided to practice with Fluffy for the day she was going to become an official Trainer, the day after her birthday, as is costumary throughout Japan.

However, a week after her father left, Zora decided to take Fluffy a little outside of New Bark Town, where she lived, without her mother or anyone else knowing, to practice fighting against a real wild Pokémon.

And that's where everything went wrong.

Zora and Fluffy encountered a wild Rattata in the grass. Rattata were fairly weak Pokémon, from what Zora had read and heard on her computer, so she assumed they could easily take it out, as Fluffy seemed to be a bit stronger than it.

However, at one point during the fight, Rattata bit down a bit too hard on Fluffy with its long, sharp teeth, and Fluffy got so wounded he ended up collapsing. Zora had immediately grabbed the unconscious Eevee and ran off with him, escaping the Rattata.

However, before returning to town, Zora had stopped and looked closer on Fluffy, making a horrifying realization.

Fluffy wasn't unconscious. He was _dead_.

The Rattata had killed him. Just like that.

Zora was horrified. Why did Fluffy die? Pokémon did not die. They never died in battles. They only fainted. Pokémon were incredibly sturdy, able to survive even the craziest fatal attacks that would definitely kill a human. So why did Fluffy die to a single, strong bite from a weak Rattata?

Instead of returning to New Bark Town and sharing the sad news with her mother, Zora ended up burying Fluffy a little outside of town, out of sight. Afterwards, she returned home without the Eevee.

Naturally, her mother asked questions, where Fluffy was and why Zora was alone. The girl lied and said Fluffy had run away. The Eevee had not been bound by a Pokéball, so he had technically still been wild. However, he had hatched from an egg given to Zora on her fourth birthday, and got very attached to her, and vice versa.

Zora cried long that day, grieving over the loss of her first Pokémon. Wondering why this happened to him.

Then she suddenly remembered.

_No power comes without a cost._

She didn't know why she remembered it just now. She remembered the phrase being a part of her recent dream. Now she was starting to realize what it meant.

Zora had the ability to communicate with Pokémon like no other human being.

However, her Pokémon had also lost the ability to survive defeat in battles, whatever that ability may be. If her Pokémon lost in battle, they would die.

After the realization, Zora had gone online to see if there was any information on this phenomenon, or if she was the only one.

She wasn't. She found several articles mentioning a condition called 'Nuzlocke', named after a Trainer in the Hoenn region that owned a Nuzleaf and lost it in battle, the first to discover this condition. Apparently, the Trainers affected by this condition had all their owned Pokémon lose the strange ability to survive fatal attacks, but all the Trainers also had the ability to understand their Pokémon better than the average Trainer.

Zora was curious if there was a way to get rid of the condition. It seemed the only way to do this was to defeat the Champion of the Trainer's home region, where they acquired this power. There were even Trainers in Johto and Kanto with this condition, trying to defeat the Pokémon League. Many failing to do so, losing all their Pokémon in the process.

But Zora was not to be deterred. She was determined to become a Pokémon Trainer, and nothing, not even the risk of her Pokémon dying would stop her. She would lift this curse she had gained. She would allow herself to have Pokémon and not have to worry about them dying.

She would challenge the Pokémon League and defeat the Champion, Dragon Trainer Lance.

In the next three weeks leading up to her tenth birthday, Zora did nothing but study this 'Nuzlocke' condition, in what other ways Trainers were affected, and planning out her journey through Johto, the Gyms and finally the Pokémon League. She looked up websites of all the Pokémon found in Johto, working out which Pokémon would be best for her journey, which ones she absolutely needed, and what registered Trainers were roaming which areas.

Zora stopped going to school that month, instead only studying and researching for her journey. Three weeks passed by faster than she would have liked, and suddenly it was her tenth birthday. She celebrated with her mother, ate some birthday cake and unpacked some presents; Trainer clothes, a white hat, a backpack and a few other things.

Tomorrow, she would finally become an official Pokémon Trainer.

Tomorrow, she would get her Starter Pokémon, and set out on her very own journey into the Johto region.

Tomorrow... everything would depend on luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna put a status list at the end of each chapter here, so we can keep track of everything.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 0  
> Live Pokémon: 0  
> Death counter: 0


	2. Starter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 became a bit longer than I thought it would, so I decided to split it in two.

The next morning, when Zora woke up, she realized she had overslept and it was past 10 in the morning. She quickly got up, dressed herself faster than the speed of light and stormed downstairs. As she avoided tripping over and falling on the last step, her mother noticed that she had woken up and walked over to her.

"Hi, Zora!" her mother greeted after checking that her daughter was okay. "You're finally awake. Your friend Ethan was just here. He was playing hide-and-seek with his Marill."

"That's nice, mom," Zora replied and adjusted her hat so it wouldn't fall off.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Our acquaintance, Professor Elm, was looking for you. He said he had a favor to ask of you."

Zora perked to attention at that, and felt the excitement from before return. "He did? Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"Sorry, dear. I thought you would need all the sleep you could get for today. You know where the lab is, right? It's right next door to us."

Zora rolled her eyes and walked over to the kitchen. "I know, mom, this isn't a big town or anything. I'm gonna make a sandwich, I'm hungry."

"You do that, dear," mother replied. "By the way, do you have everything you need to go out? Don't forget your bag."

"I won't," Zora replied as she made a quick sandwich and took a glass of milk to drink quickly.

"I'll get it for you," mother said and went upstairs.

As she got down again, Zora had finished making her sandwich and was munching through it, along with her glass of milk. Mother put the bag on the table and opened it. Zora watched as her mother pulled out a few things and put them on the table next to the bag.

"This is your Trainer Card," mother explained, holding up a flat card. "And here's a notebook for you to record your progress. I'll just let you handle the packing."

Mother went back to the dining table and continued reading a book, having already finished her own breakfast hours ago. Zora finished her sandwich and glass of milk and put the dishes in the sink. She went to table and picked up her bag, closed the pockets and lounged it over her shoulder. She picked up the notebook with a pen attached, and decided to scribble something down.

 _I began my Pokémon journey,_ she wrote down.

Afterwards, she placed the notebook in a belt-bag she also wore around her waist, so she could more easily get it out. She then picked up her Trainer Card and looked at it. She gazed at the ID number, specifically at the last number.

 _Very well,_ she thought. _Now I know which Starter to pick. Assuming Professor Elm is going to give me one. He better. I'm ten years old now, I have the right to get my own Pokémon._

Zora put the card in her belt-bag with the notebook, closed it, and stood up.

"Well, I'll be off now," Zora announced and looked at her mother with a smile. "I'll be back soon to tell you everything."

Mother looked up at her daughter and smiled back. "I can't wait," she replied. "See you soon, dear."

Zora went around the table and went for the door. Without looking back, she opened it and stepped outside.

Almost as soon as she closed the door, a Marill came storming towards her, and before either could react, it bumped into her and fell on the ground. Luckily Marill were not that big or heavy, so Zora managed to keep upright.

The Marill got up and span a bit as it recovered from the crash, then stood and stared up at Zora.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you," Marill said with a high-pitched voice.

"It's alright," Zora replied, having more or less gotten used to her ability to understand Pokémon. "Hey, aren't you Ethan's Marill? Where's Ethan?"

Before Marill could reply, Ethan appeared along the road coming from the Pokémon lab. He noticed the two of them and shouted. Marill noticed its Trainer and quickly ran over to him, bouncing happily up and down. Ethan pat the Pokémon on the head, then gestured it to follow him back to their house.

Zora silently watched the scene. Her thoughts fell to Fluffy. How she missed that Eevee. She sighed.

"I will get a new friend today," she said to herself. "I will make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

Taking a deep breath, Zora started walking towards the Pokémon lab, only about 20 meters from her own house. Before she reached the door, however, she noticed something behind the corner. She looked over and saw a young man with crimson hair staring through the window of the lab. Zora cocked an eyebrow.

 _What is he doing?_ she thought in question. _Maybe he can't get in?_

Zora decided to go over to him, walking up behind him. At first he didn't notice her, simply continued staring through the window.

"So this is the famous Elm Pokémon Lab…" he said quietly, probably to himself.

He seemed to notice Zora in the reflection of the window, for he soon turned around and looked at her. He didn't seem surprised that she was standing there behind him. Rather, he seemed a bit annoyed.

"What are you staring at?" he hissed.

Suddenly he pushed Zora and shoved her away from the small sideyard of the lab, past the mailbox and out on the road. Zora fell on the ground and nudged herself as she got back on her feet. When she looked back, the boy was back at the window, staring through it again, but this time with an occasional side-glare back at Zora. Zora cringed at the gaze.

"What a weirdo," Zora whispered to herself and decided to ignore him. He wasn't worth her time. She had better things to do.

Zora went back to the front door, grabbed hold of the handle, and took a deep breath before entering.

As she closed the door behind her, she now found herself in the lab she had been to a few times while her family had lived in New Bark Town. She saw Professor Elm ahead by a computer, currently with his back turned. Zora looked to the side. Another scientist was standing by a shelf, searching for a specific book, probably.

"Hi, Zora!" Professor Elm suddenly called, bringing Zora back to attention. She walked over to Elm, who was no longer on the computer. "I've been waiting for you!"

"Hello, Professor Elm," Zora replied and smiled.

"Do you know anything about my research?" Elm asked, also smiling.

"It's something about Pokémon, right?"

"That's right. As you know, Pokémon are carried in Poké Balls these days. But before the Poké Ball was invented, people used to walk with Pokémon. Just like your friend Ethan does!"

"And like I used to do with my Eevee," Zora replied. "Before he ran away."

"Yes, I am sorry for your loss," Elm replied, but quickly got his smile back on. "Poké Balls are great because you can carry many Pokémon. But walking with Pokémon must have some advantages. It could have something to do with how Pokémon grow or evolve…"

Zora nodded understandingly. If walking was good for humans, it must be good for Pokémon too. Hence why pretty much all adult Pokémon Trainers walked or biked instead of using a car. Zora was looking forward to get a bike of her own one day, but for now, she had to settle with walking.

"So?" Zora said, wanting the Professor to continue.

"So I'm going to give you a Pokémon!" Elm said with a big smile. "Can you walk beside this Pokémon, outside of its Poké Ball, to see if this brings any special feelings or bonds between Pokémon and people?"

"Yup," Zora replied. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Elm nodded and gestured a machine beside him. "The device over there has some Pokémon you could choose from…"

Suddenly a jingle sounded from the computer, interrupting the Professor. He immediately went back to the computer and checked it.

"Oh, hey! I got an email!" he said and read it. "Hm… Uh-huh… Okay…" As he finished reading the email, he went back to Zora. "Hey, listen. I have this acquaintance that people call Mr. Pokémon. He keeps finding weird things and raving about his discoveries. Anyway, I just got an email from him saying that this time it's real."

"What is it?" Zora asked curiously, having only heard of Mr. Pokémon a few times but never met him herself.

"It's probably another Pokémon Egg, but we're still so busy with our Pokémon research…" Elm seemed to get an idea. "Wait! I know! You can go in our place, right? Can we count on you?"

Zora looked surprised at the Professor. "Oh, uh, sure thing, I guess," she replied. "I need a Pokémon first though…"

Elm nodded eagerly. "You can choose one of the Pokémon over there," he replied and looked between the device and Zora.

Zora shrugged and walked over to the machine. Inside it were three Poké Balls, each carrying a different Pokémon. She knew from her research that Elm normally gave away three rare Pokémon named Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile to new Trainers. But the Trainer could only choose one of them.

Zora already knew which one to choose. She liked all three and couldn't choose herself, so she had let fate choose for her, via her Trainer Card having apparently arrived that same morning.

Zora picked up the Poké Ball right in front of her, knowing what was inside all three. She turned to Professor Elm.

"I choose this one," she said.

"Very well," Professor Elm said. "Let it out of its Poké Ball."

Zora touched the button in the middle of the Ball. It opened, and a figure materialized itself on the floor.

The light from the figure disappeared… and in front of Zora stood a small Chikorita.

"A good choice," Elm commented. "Then again, either of the other two would also have been good choices. Do you want to name it?"

"Most certainly," Zora replied, already having a name in mind, having decided last night, so she was prepared for either of the Starters. "I will name him… Kale."

Kale seemed to smile at Zora. "I guess I can live with that," he said.

Zora nodded and smiled at Kale. The two of them went back to Elm, who studied the two of them.

"How do you like walking with your Pokémon?" Elm asked. "It's not bad, is it?"

"Why would this be bad?" Zora asked, starting to get impatient. "Can we go yet?"

Elm nodded. "You can take it all the way to Mr. Pokémon's house. If your Pokémon gets hurt…" He gestured at another machine beside his computer. "You should heal it with this machine. It's so easy to use. Just check the PC on my desk!"

Professor Elm cleared his throat and faced Zora again. "Mr. Pokémon goes everywhere and finds rarities. His house is past Cherrygrove City. Go north a little past Cherrygrove. I'm counting on you, Zora!"

"I'll get it done," Zora replied with a nod and wrote down in her notebook that her first Pokémon was a Chikorita named Kale. She put it away and smiled at Professor Elm. "See you later. Come on, Kale."

Zora turned to the door, and Kale followed close behind. But before they could leave, the scientist by the shelf ran over to them and blocked their path.

"Zora, I want you to have these to help you with your task," the scientist said and gave Zora some Potions.

"Oh, thanks," Zora replied and deposited the Potions in her medicine pocket.

"Pokémon are weak in the beginning," the scientist explained. "Don't hesitate to use a Potion if you think yours is in danger."

"Believe me, I will make sure to keep my Pokémon safe," Zora replied, remembering how easily Fluffy the Eevee had been killed by a Rattata.

The scientist returned to the shelf to continue what he was doing. Zora opened the door and left the building with Kale right behind her.

As she got outside, Ethan and his Marill were waiting near the entrance. Marill bounced happily up and down and ran around Ethan. Ethan noticed Zora emerging from the lab and called her over.

"Zora!" Ethan greeted as she and Kale approached the boy and his Marill. "So you picked… a Chikorita! That's a cute Pokémon you have!"

"Thanks, you too," Zora replied, gazing at the Marill with a smile.

"I'm not cute, I'm serious," Kale said.

Ethan continued, only hearing the Pokémon say its own name. "When you walk with it, it'll become more friendly. You should turn around and talk to it sometimes, too."

Zora and Kale gazed between each other, but neither spoke.

"Oh, that's right!" Ethan said, bringing their attention back on him. "Why don't you show it to your mom? See ya!" And then he turned away and returned to his house, his Marill continuing to bounce happily as they walked.

Zora turned to look at Kale and smiled down at him. "So… how are you, Kale?"

Kale seemed to frown a bit. "This will take some getting used to," he said. "Why did you choose _that_ name for me?"

"Because I like it," Zora replied and smirked. "And because kale is made of leaves, and you have a leaf on your head."

"That's your reasoning?" Kale sighed. "Well, I guess it's alright. Could have been worse, I guess."

The two of them started walking back to Zora's house. "If I had chosen a Cyndaquil, I would have named it Chili," Zora said to make small-talk. "And Jacuzzi if I chose a Totodile."

"I get the first one, but why the other?" Kale asked confused.

"It just sounds cooler than Hot Tub."

"You humans are weird…"

They reached Zora's house and went inside. Mother was still reading her book, but looked over as her daughter had returned.

"Back already?" she greeted and put her book down as Zora and Kale approached her. "Oh! Zora! That's a cute Pokémon you have. Professor Elm must have given it to you?"

Kale rolled his eyes in annoyance over being called cute. Zora ignored him.

"Professor Elm has a task for me," Zora said.

"Oh, Professor Elm has a task for you, you say? What kind of task?"

Zora explained about Mr. Pokémon and that she was going to Cherrygrove City. As she finished, her mother hummed.

"I see. That sounds a little difficult." Mother put on a smile. "But when someone makes that kind of request of you, it must be important! Oh, that's right! I completely forgot! Your Pokégear came back from the repair shop! Here you go!"

Mother handed over the repaired Pokégear to Zora. It had been damaged recently and had to go into reparation. It seemed as good as new, almost better, even.

"Thanks, mom," Zora replied and put her Pokégear in her belt-bag with the notebook and Trainer Card.

"The Pokémon Gear… or Pokégear, as it's often called, is what every Trainer should have. Guess what? You can use the Pokégear to make a phone call, too. Do you remember how?"

"Yes, mom," Zora replied a bit annoyed. "Just because I never call anyone doesn't mean I don't know it exists."

Mother nodded. "Just power the Pokégear and touch the telephone button, okay? The names of the people you can call are automatically registered. Just select one to give him or her a call. Wow, I can't believe it's so easy to make a phone call!"

"I _know_ , mom," Zora replied, a bit more annoyed. "I will call people when I feel like it, if I feel like it. You don't have to rub it in my face."

Mother giggled at the response. "Take care dear," she said. "Be back soon, okay?"

"I will," Zora replied and went back to the door. "Come on, Kale, let's go!"

Kale followed close behind, and they left the house. They walked along the road, past the houses, making their way towards Route 29.

"Your mother seems nice," Kale said. "Also, do you really understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I got a special power in some weird way I don't know about," Zora replied. "But yeah, my mom is nice. She's always taken care of me, even more so after my dad left us. He didn't want a freak for a daughter, I'm sure."

"Just because you can understand us Pokémon?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Oh, here's the exit…"

They went past the last house, past the town sign saying 'New Bark Town', and had Route 29 in their sights. Zora felt her heart pounding in her chest. This was really happening. She was finally setting out on her own Pokémon journey…

"Wait one second!"

Zora started by the shout and turned to see Professor Elm running towards her. As he caught up, he rested his hands on his knees for a moment to breathe, then straightened up.

"I almost completely forgot about this…" Professor Elm and pulled out his Pokégear. "Here, I'll give you my number."

Zora sighed, but nonetheless they exchanged numbers. It was quickly done, while Kale waved with his head leaf in boredom.

"I'll call you if anything comes up," Professor Elm said and walked away again without another word.

"That Professor guy is weird," Kale commented.

"Yeah, he is," Zora replied. "Oh, by the way, how were you caught?"

Kale looked stumped at her. "I… don't really remember," he said. "I don't remember much before I was put in that Poké Ball. I think I was walking around in a forest when I met that guy… but not anything else."

"Well, you'll be safe with me," Zora replied. "Let's go."

* * *

They turned back towards Route 29 and stepped outside New Bark Town, making their way to Cherrygrove City. As they walked, Zora went through her notes in her thoughts. About everything she had read online about the Nuzlocke condition. From what she remembered, other Trainers with the condition were only able to catch one Pokémon in each area and train them. Catching more than one per area rendered the newly caught Pokémon dead in some mysterious way.

It seemed to be different with Pokémon given to Trainers by other people, either as eggs or adults. It seemed to only affect wild Pokémon, but why that was, no one knew.

Some Trainers decided to only catch the first Pokémon they encountered, and if they failed to catch it, they wouldn't catch another. Perhaps it was out of concern to put more wild Pokémon in harm's way, or perhaps they saw this as a way to make their Pokémon journey even more challenging.

Most Trainers chose to get different species of Pokémon, but as soon as they had caught a Pokémon in an area, they could not catch another. Certain Pokémon that didn't hide in the grass or dirt, instead standing out in the middle of the area, seemed to not be affected by this mysterious cause of death, even if a Trainer had already caught another in the area. Legendary Pokémon appearing in the grass also seemed to be immune somehow, as did the extremely rare and elusive Shiny Pokémon. Even so, most Trainers with the Nuzlocke condition chose not to use any of these if they were not their first caught Pokémon in an area.

Zora and Kale walked through the tall grass in Route 29 with their breaths held in. Tall grass was notorious for hiding wild Pokémon, just waiting for someone to pass by them before they would leap out and attack…

They got through the tall grass without a problem and passed a youngster taking a walk in the route. But as they went past the trees, Zora realized she had gone the wrong way and was unable to pass over a tall ledge.

"Oh great," Zora said and facepalmed. "I wish I had a map."

They backtracked and walked past a pair of ledges leading to another patch of tall grass. This was the right way to Cherrygrove City, but now Zora had to again risk running into a wild Pokémon. She felt her heart pounding even harder than before.

With a deep breath, Zora stepped into the tall grass…

Something leapt out at them, and Zora flinched.

A Pidgey landed in front of them and tweeted its name. Zora hummed. She couldn't understand what this one said.

"Uh, Kale, go!" Zora called.

Kale leapt in front of Zora and faced against the Pidgey. This was their first battle. Zora tried to ignore the memory of Fluffy's fight with the Rattata less than a month ago.

"Kale, use Tackle!" Zora said.

Kale tackled the Pidgey, which tackled him in return. Kale did more damage to the Pidgey than the bird did to him, but he was still getting quite hurt.

"One more Tackle!"

Kale tackled the Pidgey again, and it fainted. Zora sighed in relief. Her first battle won.

"Good job, Kale," she praised. "Now let's get out of here before another thing attacks us."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Kale said, a bit bruised from the fight.

They left the tall grass and was finally safe. But they were not out of the woods yet. As they walked on through the right path, they approached another large patch of tall grass. Zora looked down at Kale and gulped.

"Here, take a Potion," Zora said and knelt down to heal her Chikorita with one of her five Potions.

Kale sighed in relief as he was healed up. "Thanks, I was getting nervous you were just going to go out into the grass."

"Come on, let's move on," Zora said and got back up.

They entered the tall grass, walked through…

As they were almost out of the grass, another Pidgey flew out at them, screeching. Zora sighed and called Kale out again. Kale tackled it once and it seemed about to fall over.

"A critical hit," Zora said with a smile. "Nice, another Tackle should take it out."

The Pidgey's own Tackle barely did anything to Kale, and Kale barely had to touch it before it fell down, unconscious. Zora praised Kale, and they moved on out of the tall grass, walking beside the ledge, making sure not to fall down.

Eventually they found the road again and followed it the rest of the way to Cherrygrove City. They entered and were immediately stopped by an old man.

"You're a rookie Trainer, aren't you?" he said. "I can tell!"

Zora shared gazes with Kale, neither impressed.

"That's okay! Everyone is a rookie at some point! If you'd like, I can teach you a few things."

"Alright, old man that I have never met before," Zora replied.

"Okay, then! Follow me!"

The old man ran off towards a red building and stood, waiting. As he noticed Zora wasn't following, he immediately ran back to her.

"Ohh… I'm sorry. I forgot that you weren't wearing the Running Shoes! I'll try to go as slow as possible, so try keeping up!"

Zora gazed down at her own shoes. They were just slippers, she now noticed, not at all suitable for running without tripping over everything. Perhaps it would be nice with some Running Shoes.

Zora followed the old man as he quickly walked back to the red building.

"This is a Pokémon Center. They heal your Pokémon in no time at all. You'll be relying on them a lot, so you better learn about them."

 _You have no idea,_ Zora thought. The Pokémon Center was more important than anything else, considering her condition.

The old man walked on towards a blue building and waited for Zora to catch up with him before explaining about it.

"This is a Pokémon Mart. They sell Poké Balls for catching wild Pokémon and other useful items."

The old man walked on towards the north exit of Cherrygrove.

"Route 30 is out this way," he explained. "Trainers will be battling their Pokémon there. If you go a little farther, you'll see Mr. Pokémon's House."

The old man walked on away from the town itself and entered the small beach they had. Zora followed him to the shallow water.

"This is the sea, as you can see," he explained. "Some Pokémon are found only in water."

"I know," Zora replied, but the old man had already walked on faster than Zora could keep up.

She followed him to a house. "Here… It's my house!" he said with a smile. "For your effort keeping up with me, I'll give you my Running Shoes! They're still warm!"

Zora cringed. "I don't want your shoes," she said.

The old man stared at her for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. "Got you, didn't I? Don't worry, these are brand new!"

The old man pulled out a pair of brand new Running Shoes and handed them over to the girl. Zora sighed of relief, happy she didn't have to wear this old man's old shoes.

"Why do you have new shoes available?" she asked curiously.

"I was going to get a new pair, but I think you'll make better use of them than I can," he explained. "Besides, the ones I'm wearing now are still good and going! Well, good luck on your journey, Trainer!"

With that, the old man went into his house, leaving Zora alone once again. She shrugged and put on the shoes right away, putting her slippers in her bag.

"I'll just drop them off at home when I get back to New Bark Town," she said to herself.

"Sounds smart," Kale commented.

"Alright, let's go," Zora said, and they walked through the city that could barely even be called a city with so few houses and no tall buildings or real roads of asphalt.

Before leaving, Zora decided to stop by the Pokémon Center to make sure Kale was in top condition for the next part of their task. Nurse Joy accepted the Poké Ball, and Kale was quickly healed up and back at full strength. They left the Pokémon Center and went into the Pokémart to see what items were available.

They had Potions, Antidotes and Parlyz Heals, but no Poké Balls. They were fresh out of Poké Balls and it would take a while before they got restocked, so for now, Kale would be the only Pokémon Zora would have on her team.

Zora decided to buy one Antidote just to be safe, as well as a single Parlyz Heal. She still had four Potions left, so she didn't have to worry about buying those yet.

They left the Pokémart and made their way to the north exit of Cherrygrove, when suddenly the old man from before stormed over to them, all out of breath as he reached them.

"…Hffp… Hffp… I made it…" he wheezed. "I forgot about one thing. This is another token from me! Take it."

Zora handed over her Pokégear to the old man, and as he gave it back, now it had a map function.

"Oh, thanks," Zora said with a smile. "This will come in handy."

"Just touch the map icon on the screen and you'll see the map of the region you're currently in!" the old man explained eagerly. "The Pokégear becomes more useful as you add Cards. I wish you luck on your journey!"

The old man once again left and returned to his house. Now Zora could finally leave Cherrygrove and head north for Mr. Pokémon's house. They entered Route 30, and Zora felt more confident now that Kale could take on whatever they may come across. There was nothing strong in this area, she remembered from her notes.

They walked through the first patch of tall grass without encountering anything. Then they walked up some stairs situated on a taller ledge, past a guy wearing a straw hat, and found a Potion in the grass. Zora picked it up and inspected it. It was brand new, probably dropped by someone in a hurry.

"This will come in handy," she said and put it in her medicine pocket, and they moved on.

A house appeared by the end of the road by another ledge, surely this must be Mr. Pokémon's house.

Except it wasn't. The guy living in the house was not Mr. Pokémon and even commented that many came to his house, searching for Mr. Pokémon. The man was kind enough to give Zora an Apricorn Box though, so she could pluck and keep Apricorns whenever she came across them throughout the region.

Zora and Kale left the house after plucking a Green Apricorn from the man's yard, then walked through the next patch of tall grass. They did not get attacked, but they did find an Antidote on the road.

Zora sighed. "I could have spared the 100 Pokédollars."

"Hey, more is better than none, right?" Kale said.

"I guess you're right."

They moved on, passing a random guy talking about how often a Pokémon could use moves until they were exhausted, noticed a pair of youngsters battling each other with their Rattata and Pidgey, and then followed the road after the sign saying 'Mr. Pokémon's House Straight Ahead!'.

They got through another patch of grass when they ran into another Pidgey which Kale took care of without a problem, though he did get a bit bruised again, so Zora had to use another Potion on him to heal up.

"Hey, I have a new move," Kale said as he was healed up. "Razor Leaf. Neat, huh?"

"That's great," Zora praised. "You're getting stronger. Alright, let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 0  
> Live Pokémon: 1  
> Death counter: 0


	3. Rival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the other half of the original second chapter. It's not gonna be so much talk from now on... I think. XD  
> Now that we've got introductions out of the way, hopefully it will be more freeform.

They moved on through more tall grass when they encountered a stronger Pidgey than the previous ones. Kale tackled it, then used Razor Leaf, but it didn't do more damage than the Tackle. He continued to Razor Leaf the Pidgey though, and while it was faster than him, Kale managed to land a critical hit and knock out the strong Pidgey.

After healing up again, they ran through the rest of the tall grass without encountering anything else. They reached Mr. Pokémon's house and went inside after plucking a Pink Apricorn beside the house.

Inside the house was Mr. Pokémon, and old man in a fedora, along with another Pokémon Professor.

"You must be Zora," Mr. Pokémon said as he approached her. "It was I who sent an email to Professor Elm earlier."

Mr. Pokémon led Zora to a chair by the table and went to a shelf to get something. He got back to her and showed an egg.

"This is what I want Professor Elm to examine," he said and handed it over to Zora. "A friend of mine from Ecruteak gave it to me. I bet you can't find this kind of egg in Johto."

Zora gazed down at the white egg with red and blue triangles. It was very pretty. She showed it to Kale, who looked on curiously.

"I thought Professor Elm might be able to tell what this is," Mr. Pokémon said. "'He's the best when it comes to the research of Pokémon evolution.' That's a quote from the famous Professor Oak."

Zora looked over at the Pokémon Professor by the table, who smiled and waved at her.

"Well, I should get back to New Bark Town with this," Zora said.

"You are returning to Professor Elm?" Mr. Pokémon remarked. "Here. Your Pokémon should have some rest."

Mr. Pokémon healed up Kale, even though he was already healed by a Potion, though he was also given an Elixir to get his strength back. Professor Oak went around the table and faced Zora.

"And with that," he said. "I'm Professor Oak, a Pokémon researcher! So you're Zora! I was just visiting my friend Mr. Pokémon. I heard you were running an errand for Professor Elm, so I waited here."

Oak knelt down to inspect Kale. "Oh! What's this? A rare Pokémon! I see! You must be helping Professor Elm's research! I think I understand why Professor Elm gave you that Pokémon. You will treat your Pokémon with love and care, it seems."

Oak got back up and turned to Zora again. "Ah! You seem to be dependable. How would you like to help me out?" He pulled out a small red device. "See? This is the latest version of the Pokédex. It automatically records data on Pokémon you've seen or caught. It's a high-tech encyclopedia! I'd like you to have it."

Oak handed over the Pokédex to a very eager Zora.

"Awesome," she said.

Oak chuckled. "Go meet many kinds of Pokémon and complete that Pokédex! But I've stayed too long. I have to get to Goldenrod for my usual radio show. Zora, I have a feeling that this is not the last time we'll meet…" He pulled out a Pokégear from his pocket. "Let's exchange numbers just to be on the safe side."

Zora got her own Pokégear out and exchanged numbers with Oak before he promptly left the house without another word. She turned back to Mr. Pokémon.

"Sorry to trouble you, having you go back and forth," he apologized. "But please make sure to hand it to Professor Elm!"

"I will," Zora replied. "Well, see ya."

Zora and Kale left the house and immediately got a phone call from Professor Elm. She picked up the Pokégear.

"H-hello?" she said nervously, not used to being on the phone, nor really liking it.

" _H-hello? Zora?_ " Elm's voice sounded from the phone. " _It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It… Oh, no… Please get back here now!_ "

Before Zora could ask what was wrong, Elm hung up with a click. She put the Pokégear away and looked down at Kale.

"Sounds like the Professor is in trouble," she said. "Let's hurry back!"

* * *

They ran through the tall grass and encountered another Pidgey, which Kale took care of with a few Razor Leafs and a Tackle before they ran back to the Pokémon Center to heal up before going back to Route 29 and home.

However, before they could leave Cherrygrove and enter the route, the red-haired boy from earlier approached them, walking calmly over. He stopped and stared at Zora and Kale with a judgmental look.

"You got a Pokémon at the Lab. What a waste," he said. "That's a Pokémon that's too good for a wimp like you."

Zora and Kale both glared at the boy. He didn't seem to take them seriously.

"Don't you get what I'm saying? Well, I too have a good Pokémon. I'll show you what I mean."

The boy brought out a Poké Ball and released the Pokémon within. It was a Cyndaquil. Zora gasped.

"That's one of the Pokémon from Professor Elm's lab!" she exclaimed. "You stole it?!"

"So? What are you gonna do about it, wimp?"

Zora snarled. "Kale, get him!"

Kale tackled the boy's Cyndaquil, which tackled back and did more damage than Kale had. This was not ideal.

"Use Razor Leaf!" Zora shouted.

Kale did as told, but it barely did anything, and he was getting weaker. Zora immediately brought out a Potion and healed Kale up before the Cyndaquil Leered at him.

Kale growled at the Cyndaquil, making it uncomfortable, and the next Tackle did less damage. After another Growl and weak Tackle from Cyndaquil, Kale used another Razor Leaf, then Cyndaquil tackled so hard, Zora was forced to use another Potion to heal up Kale. Now she only had one Potion left, and the Cyndaquil Leered again at Kale to make him more uncomfortable.

Another Tackle, and the Cyndaquil was nearly down. Another Leer from it, and Kale seemed to be letting down his guard more. If the opponent hit another Tackle and landed a crit, Kale would likely die.

But by out-speeding it, Kale landed another Tackle and took out the Cyndaquil. The boy with crimson hair had been defeated.

He stared silently at Zora for several seconds as he called the fainted Pokémon back into its Poké Ball.

"Do you want to know who I am?" he asked darkly. "I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer."

He pushed Zora aside and walked on. Before he could get too far, however, he felt on his pockets, noticing something was missing. He stomped back to Zora with anger painted on his face.

"Give it back! That's my Trainer Card!" he growled and swiped the card back, but Zora put on a smirk, which unnerved him. "Oh no! You saw my name…"

Without another word, the boy walked on. Zora smirked spitefully at him. He had not noticed his Trainer Card being taken right as he pushed her aside, and now she knew who he was. Or at least what his name was.

With that knowledge in mind, she went back through Route 29, avoided the tall grass, jumped over a few ledges and ran along the road until she was finally back in New Bark Town. She entered the lab, where a police officer had arrived and was currently questioning Professor Elm. He noticed Zora's presence and immediately confronted her.

"Who are you? We are investigating the case of the missing Pokémon here," he said. "Rule number one! 'Whoever did it will come back to the site.'" He gazed down at the Chikorita by her side. "Oh my… So you must be… the one who did it?"

The door slammed against the wall, and Ethan stormed over, bouncing nervously around.

"Hold on a second!" Ethan exclaimed. "She has nothing to do with it! I saw it. There was a red-haired boy looking into the building!"

"It's true," Zora replied. "I saw him earlier but didn't think he was going to steal anything. I just battled him. He took a Cyndaquil."

The police officer seemed stumped at the explanation. "What? You battled a boy like that? He must be the one who did it… Did you happen to get his name?"

Zora nodded. "I did. I saw the name on his Trainer Card. His name is Silver!"

The police officer brought forth his notebook and pen. "So Silver is his name, you say?"

"Yes, Silver."

The police officer wrote down the name and description of the boy, as well as noting he had a Cyndaquil. "Thanks for helping my investigation! My next assignment is to search for this red-haired individual."

With that, the officer left the building. Ethan turned to Zora.

"Zora! I'm glad they understand you are innocent. See you later!"

Without another word, Ethan left as well, leaving Zora with a distressed Elm.

"Zora, this is terrible…" he said. He shook his head and changed the subject. "Oh, yes, what was Mr. Pokémon's big discovery?"

Zora handed the mystery egg over to Professor Elm. He practically leapt back in amazement.

"Huh? This is an… egg, isn't it? This egg may be something I've never seen… still, it's just an egg. Mr. Pokémon is always fascinated by eggs. Well, since he gave it to us, we might as well find out what secret it holds. I'll keep it for a while to find out about the egg."

Elm put the egg away in a container for safe-keeping when Zora remembered something. "Oh, by the way, Professor Oak gave me a Pokédex."

Elm looked shocked at her. "What?! Professor Oak gave you a Pokédex? Zora, is that true? Th-that's incredible! He is superb at seeing the potential of people as Trainers."

"Really?" Zora replied. "I mean, I was planning to become a Trainer anyway…"

"Wow, Zora," Elm continued. "I knew you were a little different. Things are going to be fun!"

 _As fun as possibly getting my Pokémon killed can be, I guess,_ Zora thought to herself. She still hadn't told anyone of her Nuzlocke condition yet, not even Kale. Especially not Kale. But she might have to at some point, so he would understand how serious a situation they were in. For now, she kept on her mask and pretended it was all going to be a fun, safe adventure.

"Your Pokémon seem to really like you, so why don't you… take the Pokémon Gym challenge? If you manage to defeat all the Gym Leaders, you'll eventually challenge the Pokémon League Champion!"

Zora felt a lump in her throat as Elm mentioned the Gyms and Pokémon League. This was exactly what she had to do. It would be the most dangerous journey for any Pokémon Trainer with her condition. She was certain she would not get to keep all the Pokémon she caught, but she would make sure to keep as many alive as possible.

"…Or not! Ha ha!" he laughed. "Becoming the Champion is not at all easy, but you can certainly challenge Violet City's Gym."

Zora felt her heart race by the mention of the first Gym, in Violet City. She knew from her research that the Leader, Falkner, had a Pidgey and a Pidgeotto. Not too big a challenge, but with a Grass type Pokémon as her Starter, she would have to find something to counter the Flying type.

Elm walked back to his computer but turned back to her. "…Zora. Challenging the Gyms scattered around will be a long journey. Before you leave, make sure that you talk to your mom."

Zora nodded. "I'll see you later, I guess," she said and left the lab. "Come on, Kale."

Zora and Kale returned to her house and told her mother what had happened and what she was going to do. She also made sure to deposit the slippers she had accidentally brought along, now that she was wearing her new Running Shoes. Her mother seemed a bit worried.

"…So, you're leaving on an adventure…" she said. She put on a smile. "Okay! I'll help, too. But what can I do for you? I know! Every time you receive prize money, I'll save some of it for you. On a long journey, money's important. Do you want me to save your money for you?"

Zora smiled at her mother. "Yes, please, mom," she said.

Mother beamed by the response. "Okay, I'll take care of your money." She stroke Zora's head, covered by the large white hat. "Be careful. Pokémon are your friends. When you work as a team, you can accomplish anything! Now, go on!"

Zora went back to the door, with Kale right behind her. She looked back at her mother one last time.

"See you later, mom!"

* * *

Zora and Kale walked out of town and entered Route 29 once again, this time running into Ethan before the tall grass. Marill called Ethan to attention, and he looked up and smiled at his friend approaching.

"There you are!" Ethan greeted and walked over to Zora. "Zora! You can catch wild Pokémon with Poké Balls. Follow me!"

They both walked into the tall grass, until they ran into a Rattata. Zora cringed as she remembered how Fluffy was killed by one not long ago.

Ethan demonstrated to Zora how to capture Pokémon. First he ordered his Marill to tackle the Rattata, doing a little damage while the rat barely did any damage to the Marill. Afterwards, Ethan threw a Poké Ball at it, and it was immediately caught.

"See? Just like that!" Ethan said. "It's better to lower your target's health more than I did, or make it sleep or something. You can try all kinds of things to see what works. I'll give you these. Good luck!"

Ethan handed over five Poké Balls to Zora, then left with another "See ya!", moving on towards Cherrygrove City.

Zora stood alone in the tall grass again, but this time with Poké Balls.

"This is it," she said and took a deep breath, her heart pounding harder than it had done before. "Our journey begins right now."

Instead of moving on through the grass right away, however, Zora knelt down and faced Kale. Kale looked up at her, a bit confused.

"Kale, I didn't want to tell you this, but I have to," Zora said, thinking hard about the words she was going to use. "I have the condition called Nuzlocke. Have you heard of it?"

Kale shook his head. Zora sighed.

"It means if you lose in a battle, you won't faint. You'll _die_."

Kale's eyes became wide and his pupils small. His face seemed a bit pale.

"I… what?" Kale replied in disbelief. "So… you mean I can't afford to lose even a single time?"

"I'm afraid so. And the only way to cure it is apparently to defeat the Champion of this region. Which means we have a really long and dangerous journey ahead of us. We need to catch some really good team members and become the strongest team in Johto if we are to succeed. Do you understand?"

Kale looked down at the ground in disbelief. "I… understand," he said. "Okay, I'll do my best. No, I will win every battle, I promise you that! You can count on me, Zora!"

Zora smiled and rose up. "I'll hold you to that promise," she replied. "Now, we have an encounter here in Route 29. Let's see what we can get."

They wandered around in the tall grass, until something suddenly leapt out at them.

It was a Sentret. Practically only found on this very Route 29.

"Not the best, but I'm sure we can make use of it somehow," Zora said. "Okay, I'll try to catch it, because you're a bit too strong, Kale."

Zora threw the first of her five Poké Balls. It did not even shake once before the Sentret broke out of it and scratched Kale across the face.

"Your plan is not working!" Kale hissed.

"Okay, I get it," Zora said. "Uh… Tackle it!"

Kale Tackled the Sentret, and luckily he did not knock it out. The Sentret in turn began inspecting Kale, looking for weaknesses. While it did that, Zora threw another Poké Ball, now that it had been weakened.

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… and clicked.

Zora stood with shaking hands, barely able to believe it.

"I did it… We did it!" Zora exclaimed happily and picked up the Poké Ball. "I caught my first Pokémon! And you didn't knock it out, Kale! Good job!"

Kale smiled proudly of himself. "What are you gonna name her?" he asked.

"Uh…" Zora thought for a moment. "…Bushy."

"Bushy?" Kale repeated. "Uh, alright then. Glad to have you on the team, Bushy."

Zora put the Poké Ball away, suddenly getting a call from her mother. " _Hello?_ "

"Hi, mom!"

" _Oh, hi, Zora! How are you?_ "

"I'm good. What's up?"

" _I found a useful item while shopping, so I bought it with your money. Sorry!_ "

Zora's smile faded. "I just gave you that money! How have you already spent it? There aren't even any shops in New Bark Town! And why did you even spent my money?"

" _I know, I'm sorry! But I asked the deliveryman to take it to you, so you should stop by the nearest Poké Mart or Department Store and pick it up! I know it'll be useful! Okay, bye!_ "

With that, her mother hung up. Zora sighed and looked at the town map.

"Okay, Violet City is all the way up here," she said and pointed at the screen. "Three routes, a cave and Cherrygrove City away. This will take a while."

Zora put the Pokégear away and looked down at Kale. "Since we've caught Bushy here, we don't have anything else to do in this route. We can run away from any other Pokémon we encounter. Let's start by returning to Cherrygrove City to stock up and heal the two of you before we set off."

"Sounds good to me," Kale replied.

They walked past a gate, which Zora decided to check out. It was Route 46. She checked her notes.

"We can get a Geodude here," she informed Kale. "A Geodude would be good for the first three Gyms. Especially the third, from what I've researched. We absolutely must get a Geodude. Let's see, what else is in this route… Rattata and Spearow, during the day. At night… just Geodude and Rattata."

Zora put her notes away. "Well, I suppose we'll have to go get ourselves a Rattata somewhere else," she said.

"Wait, I thought we were getting a Geodude?" Kale said confused.

"We are, but if we run into a Spearow or Rattata in Route 46, we can't catch Geodude there. It's complicated," she added as she saw Kale's doubtful expression. "If we catch more Pokémon in an area, they will die."

"Can't you just run away from Spearow and Rattata until you encounter a Geodude?"

"Maybe, but I've read and heard that comes with a risk of the Pokémon dying as well when we catch it. Not for certain, not sure if it's true, but I don't want to take the risk. So we have to catch a Rattata in another place, then come back here at night so we are certain to get a Geodude."

"Uh, didn't you just say running away until we get a Geodude risks killing it?"

"No, that's only when we're running from something we haven't caught yet," Zora explained. "If we run from a Pokémon we have registered, that's okay. Different species of Pokémon actually seem to be encouraged. We should be fine, as long as we get a Rattata somewhere else."

"Alright, where else can we find a Rattata?"

Zora brought out her notes. "They seem to have a low encounter rate in most places, but there seem to be two towers where they're all over the place. One of them is called Sprout Tower, and it's in Violet City. We should go there and get the Rattata, before the sun sets."

"Why's that?"

"If we go at night, there's a chance there will be Gastly as well. Not that Gastly are bad, we should actually get one of those as well."

"This is too much information at once!"

"Don't you worry about the rules," Zora said with a smile. "I'll take care of everything. You just make sure not to knock out any new comrades, and knock out the ones I tell you to."

Kale sighed in exhaustion. "I'll… do my best. But I'd rather keep myself alive than risk losing to a possible new comrade and die."

"I'll keep you safe. Now, let's get back to Cherrygrove City and heal up."

They ran through the rest of the tall grass until they reached the road and had a clear walk back to the Pokémon Center in Cherrygrove. Zora handed over her Poké Balls to Nurse Joy so Kale and Bushy could get healed up. While waiting, she wrote down in her notebook that she caught a Sentret and named her Bushy.

Afterwards, they left the Center and went to the Poké Mart to pick up the item her mother had bought for her. It was a Super Potion, very handy and something she definitely couldn't have gotten herself yet. It would come in handy later.

After buying seven Poké Balls and only having enough money left to buy two Potions, Zora and Kale left the Poké Mart and went for the north exit of the city. With Route 30 in sight, they looked determined at each other. Zora gave her partner a smile, enthusiastic about their journey.

"Let's beat the Johto League!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 0  
> Live Pokémon: 2  
> Death counter: 0


	4. The Journey Begins

The first Pokémon they ran into on Route 30 was a Weedle. Zora immediately chucked a ball at it, and it was almost caught, but after the third shake, it broke free.

Not wanting Kale to accidentally knock it out, as it was pretty weak, Zora chucked another ball at it. This time it shook three times and clicked. The Weedle was caught. Zora noted it.

"Another female," Zora remarked as she inspected the Weedle. "I was hoping for a Pidgey, but that's alright. A Weedle will do just fine."

"What for?" Kale asked curiously.

"Convenience," Zora simply replied and thought for a moment. "I think I will call her Buzz Lady."

"Fancy," Kale replied. "Can we get a move on now? It's starting to get dark."

"Yes, let's go," Zora replied. "We don't want to have to wait a whole day for the maximum best outcome."

They moved on, but suddenly Zora remembered something and stopped again. She brought out her notebook and looked through it. She frowned.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Kale asked.

"Beedrill can't learn Fly," Zora replied. "Even though it has wings!"

"Well, I guess Beedrill aren't strong enough to carry a human…"

Zora sighed in annoyance. "Oh well, there's nothing to do about it now. We'll just have to keep moving and find something else."

They moved on through the tall grass, got up the stairs and past the house that didn't belong to Mr. Pokémon, and through more grass. Just before exiting, they ran into a Kakuna lying in the middle of it all. Since it didn't have any attacks and couldn't move at all, they just ran away from it.

There was a shortcut to the next flight of stairs without having to cross the tall grass. However, the youngsters that battled earlier now stood and lurked, as if they were waiting for Zora to battle them. She would rather not waste her time on fighting kids, so she kept her gaze ahead, trying to avoid eye contact with the first one.

But even though she wasn't looking at him, the youngster was not to be deterred. He immediately challenged her to a battle, and she couldn't say no. So they battled.

The boy, called Joey, had a Rattata. Zora glared at the little purple rat. Obviously it was not the same, but she hated every Rattata now, because of what happened to Fluffy. Then she remembered she had to catch one herself, and she felt a bit at odds.

"Let's just get this over with," Zora said. "Kale, go! Use Razor Leaf!"

With one Razor Leaf, Kale destroyed the Rattata, and Youngster Joey was defeated.

"Good fight, I underestimated you," Joey said and shook hands with the victor. "Hey, can I get your number? I'll ring you up to battle."

Zora considered the offer for a moment. "No," she said bluntly.

Joey's smile faded. "Oh, all right…" Then the smile returned. "But I won't lose to you again!"

They moved on to fight the other youngster, named Mikey, who had a Pidgey. With a Razor Leaf and a Tackle, it too went down easily. Mikey then sent out a Rattata, which used Quick Attack to hit first but barely did any damage. Kale took it out with his next Razor Leaf, and Youngster Mikey was now also defeated.

Furthermore, Kale learned the move Poisonpowder, which Zora was happy about. They moved on up the stairs and continued on the road ahead of them, heading for Route 31.

"Hey, why did you say no to that boy?" Kale asked. "About the number thing, I mean."

"I don't want my phone constantly ringing because some random person wants to battle me from across the region," Zora replied. "It's inconvenient, which we don't need here. Ugh, it's getting dark so fast, we gotta hurry."

They ran ahead, squeezed through the tall grass and up the next ledge, then they ran into a Bug Catcher named Don. He sent out a Caterpie, which String Shot Kale, but Kale still managed to tackle it twice to defeat it. Don sent out another Caterpie, which barely did any damage with its weak Tackle, and Kale easily took it out as well.

With Bug Catcher Don defeated, the team moved on up the next flight of stairs, entering Route 31.

"Alright, we have a new encounter here," Zora announced. "Let's see, what can we get here…" After a moment, she put her notes away again. "Okay, we have another chance at getting a Pidgey here. Let's see if we get lucky."

They entered the grass, and something leapt out at them. This time it was indeed a Pidgey. Zora felt the excitement build up in her.

"I'll try a ball first," Zora informed Kale and chucked a ball at the bird.

It shook once, then the Pidgey broke out of the ball. Zora was concerned.

"Okay, I know this is risky… but use PoisonPowder, Kale!"

Kale did as told and poisoned the Pidgey, making its health gradually decrease.

"Alright, please get in the ball this time," Zora begged and threw another Poké Ball. She now had six left.

Luckily, the Pidgey was caught this time, and Zora happily picked it up. Now they had something to fly with, when the time came.

"I'll name him Fly Boy," Zora said. "Alright, let's give you an Antidote."

She gave Fly Boy one of her two Antidotes, so he wouldn't get too critical during the rest of their journey to Violet City. She was glad to have a flying Pokémon now, but she was unsure if she was going to use any of the Pokémon she had caught so far. She did have some use for two of them, at least.

Moving on through the grass, they ran into a Bellsprout, which they ran away from, as they didn't want Kale to get too strong for these weak Pokémon, as they still had to catch some of them in other places.

As they got out of the grass, Zora picked up a Potion lying on the ground, right next to a cave.

"So this is Dark Cave," Zora said and looked through her notes. "We can get a Geodude or a Zubat in here. Or a Dunsparce, but that's very unlikely."

"Oh, so we can get a Geodude already here?" Kale commented. "Cool, let's try that!"

"I suppose so," Zora said and put her notes away. "Even if we don't encounter a Geodude, Zubat is pretty good too. I hope we get one, actually. As long as it's not Dunsparce."

They entered the cave and walked around for a bit. It was very dark, hence the name.

Suddenly, something appeared before them. It was a Zubat. Zora was a bit disappointed it wasn't a Geodude, but like she said, it was also a good Pokémon, so she intended to catch it.

Like last time, she started by throwing a Poké Ball at it, but it broke out after the third shake. Even if it resisted Grass, Kale was way too strong for the Zubat to survive anything he threw against it. Furthermore, it was Poison type, so it couldn't get poisoned like Fly Boy was.

"Come on, get in the ball!" Zora said and chucked another ball at the Zubat.

The ball shook once… twice… then it broke out again.

"Argh! Come on, I only have four balls left! Get in there!"

Another Poké Ball was thrown. Another two shakes and it got out. Zora was getting worried. She was almost out of Poké Balls. Luckily all the Zubat was doing was using Leech Life, which barely did anything to the tanky Kale.

"Last one, then we'll have to use one of the others to weaken it!" Zora said and chucked another ball at the Zubat.

This time it didn't even shake before the Zubat broke out. Zora was starting to panic. She only have two balls left.

"Okay, you leave me no choice," she said. "Kale, get back! Buzz Lady, get out here!"

Kale withdrew from the battle, and Zora sent out Buzz Lady the Weedle to fight.

"You're sending me against a Zubat?!" Buzz Lady exclaimed. "Are you crazy?!"

The Zubat used Leech Life again, barely doing anything to the Weedle.

"Eh, I suppose I can handle it. What do you want me to do?"

"Poison Sting it," Zora ordered. "We just need it to get down a bit in health so we can catch it."

"Got it!"

Buzz Lady threw a Poison Sting which did about the same amount of damage as Zubat had done with Leech Life. Only, after another Leech Life, it regained its lost health, back to full strength again. Zora groaned.

"This is not working out," Zora said. "Get back, Buzz Lady! Bushy, you go!"

Buzz Lady was called back, and Bushy the Sentret was sent out instead.

"Scratch it, but don't do too much damage!" Zora said.

"Okay!" Bushy replied and scratched the Zubat. It lived with some bruises, but was it enough to catch it?

"Let's give it a shot," Zora said and threw another ball, one of her two last ones. "Please get in!"

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked. The Zubat was caught.

Zora threw her arms in the air and cheered. She picked up Bushy and hugged her.

"Good job, Bushy! I'm so proud of you!" Zora exclaimed happily.

"N-no problem!" Bushy said, getting squeezed a bit too tight. "Let me down, please!"

Zora let Bushy down and picked up the Poké Ball containing her new Zubat.

"What are you gonna call him?" Kale asked, still beside Zora and Bushy.

"Hmm…" Zora hummed and thought for a moment. "Dingbat," she decided. "Good job, Bushy. Now get some rest."

Zora returned Bushy to her Poké Ball, and they left the cave. The sun was starting to dip towards the horizon.

"Let's move on," Zora said. "Violet City is just up ahead. Let's get to the Sprout Tower and get ourselves a Rattata."

* * *

They moved on along the road, down another flight of stairs, found an Apricorn tree and plucked a black Apricorn, jumped over a ledge and picked up a Poké Ball in the grass, without anything in it.

Just to be safe, Zora healed up Kale before they went and battled another Bug Catcher named Wade. His first Caterpie was taken out with two Tackles, as was the second one. He then sent out a Weedle, which was also taken out in two hits. His last Caterpie was almost Tackled to defeat, before Zora decided to bring out Dingbat to get a bit stronger.

With two Leech Lifes and a Potion, Dingbat managed to take out the Caterpie, but at the moment he was very frail and could easily have been taken out by even this weak caterpillar.

After declining Wade's offer on exchanging phone numbers, Zora looked at her Trainer Card to see how much money she had left. Only enough to get one Poké Ball.

"We need more money," she said as they made their way through the tall grass. "And we need to train up Dingbat. He will become useful later, but right now he's weak."

"I'm sure we'll get it done," Kale replied.

"We have to hurry, there's less than half an hour until it's dark."

They ran the rest of the way through the tall grass without encountering any wild Pokémon, and soon they arrived at the entrance to Violet City. As they went through the gate, Ethan arrived right behind them, and they stopped up.

"I knew it was you, Zora!" Ethan greeted happily. "How did you get past me? Here is something neat for surprising me, Zora!"

Ethan handed over a device Zora recognized as a Vs. Recorder. She sighed but accepted it nonetheless.

"The Vs. Recorder can record your Pokémon battles," Ethan explained. "I have to go now! I won't let you pass me again!" He turned to his Marill. "Come on, Marill!"

Marill bounced a bit before the two of them moved past Zora and Kale, entering Violet City before they could.

"Your friend is weird," Kale commented.

"Everyone is weird," Zora said in agreement. "Now, let's move on, we don't have a lot of time."

Before going to the Sprout Tower, they first healed up at the Pokémon Center, then went to the Poké Mart to get more Poké Balls. That's when Zora remembered she was broke. As they didn't have much time, she decided to call her mother.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hi mom," Zora greeted her on the phone.

" _Oh, hi, Zora! Working hard?_ "

"Yeah, I'm in Violet City right now."

" _Oh, so you're in Violet City… Isn't that where Sprout Tower is? Did you go take a look?_ "

"I'm about to. But I don't have enough money for enough Poké Balls. I need some more."

" _Oh, I can stop saving your money if you want. But if you need more money, you will have to get back here and get them._ "

Zora stiffened. "You're kidding! I don't have time to get back!"

" _I'm sorry, sweetie, I wish I could do more for you. Best of luck!_ "

Her mother hung up. Zora put her Pokégear away and sighed irritated.

"Great, now what do I do?" she speculated. "I can only afford another Pokéball, and I don't think three balls are enough to catch a Rattata."

"I say go for it," Kale said. "Like you said, we don't have time. Let's just hope we get lucky!"

Zora looked down at him and smiled. "You're right. When it comes down to it, everything depends on luck. We'll have to make do with three Poké Balls."

Zora bought a Poké Ball, then decided she didn't need her Parlyz Heal at the moment, so she sold it so she could buy another Poké Ball. With four Poké Balls in the bag, she felt more confident that they could pull it off. But they had to hurry. There were only ten minutes until six in the evening, when the Gastly would start to come out.

They went across the bridge and arrived at Sprout Tower. They went inside and found a bunch of people on the first floor. The Rattata were found on the second floor and up, so Zora snuck past the people and climbed the ladder to the second floor.

After walking for a bit, a Rattata jumped out at them. Zora's heart pounded once again, but not because of the memory of Fluffy's death. This was the chance she had been waiting for. Her chance to get a Geodude, as long as she could catch this tiny Rattata.

"Okay, Kale, use PoisonPowder, just to weaken it a bit," Zora ordered.

"Got it," Kale said and poisoned the Rattata.

The Rattata fell ill by the poison and barely hurt Kale with a Tackle. Zora threw a Poké Ball and prayed it would catch it.

The ball shook three times before the Rattata broke out. Zora swore.

"Three balls left," she said and threw another one. "Please get in there this time!"

It shook once before the Rattata broke out. Zora was panicking once again.

"Uh, let's just wait it out!" Zora said and brought out Fly Boy. "Fly Boy, don't do anything, just watch!"

"Uh… okay," Fly Boy replied.

The Rattata seemed to get weaker from the poison. Zora sent Kale forth. Then Fly Boy again. Then Kale again. Then Fly Boy again. And then she sent out Kale once again.

"Okay, it seems weakened enough now," Zora said and brought out another Poké Ball. "Please get in this time!"

She threw one of her two last Poké Balls.

It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked. The Rattata was caught.

Zora let out a deep breath that she had been holding. One Poké Ball remaining, and she caught the purple rat at last.

"At least now we have what we need to get a Geodude," she sighed and picked up the Poké Ball. "Your name is Dummy. Because you wasted so many of my Poké Balls."

* * *

After putting the ball away, Zora and Kale immediately left the Sprout Tower to get to the Pokémon Center to heal up. Now it was dark, and the Gastly were starting to come out. Which also meant that on Route 46, only Geodude and Rattata would be present. Zora would for certain get a Geodude this time.

Relieved that she didn't have to worry anymore, they went to the Pokémon Center and healed up. They had all night to get a Geodude, but they only had one Poké Ball left and no money to get more. They probably had to go back to New Bark Town to get more from her mother after all. At least now they had the time.

Zora looked over beside the PC and saw a man with a weird haircut. She recognized him from images on her computer. This was a man named Primo, and rumors had it he had something special. Something that Zora wanted.

Zora brought out her Pokégear and went online to check something. She wrote down something in her notebook, then put the Pokégear away. She walked over to Primo.

"Hello," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hello!" Primo greeted back with a wide grin. "I should be a familiar face to every Pokémon fan. I'm from the TV show, 'The Show Me Show!' I am Primo, the big brother!"

"I know, I've watched your show," Zora said.

"Today, would you, one of my fans, tell me what you think of me?"

"Yes, I certainly will," Zora said. She looked down at her notebook, then back up again. "That song yesterday… I loved it. You were really good."

Primo looked shocked at Zora. "Oh my…! Is that how you feel about me? I never thought of it that way before. By the way, how do you like the way I am so exciting and fun?"

"The news of your new diet was to adore," Zora replied.

Primo dropped his jaw in awe. "You are no ordinary fan, knowing such a thing! You are a Trainer, right? I'll pull some strings for you. I think I can swing a deal and give you this egg. You take good care of it!" After a moment of silence, Primo continued: "Your party is full, and I can't give it to you."

Zora looked shocked in realization. "Oh, silly me!" she said and ran to the PC to deposit Buzz Lady, as they wouldn't be needing her anytime soon. She ran back to Primo, but he had to be reminded what Zora thought of him, which was pretty annoying, as she had just told him. He probably just wanted to hear it a second time.

This time, Primo gave her the egg, which was light yellow with two black stripes at the top and a yellow stripe between them. The Pokémon inside this egg would be of great use to the team, especially for this first Gym… if Zora could get it to hatch before the time became too late, that was.

"We can get the Geodude later," Zora said as she sat down in one of the chairs in the Pokémon Center, with the egg on her lap and Kale jumping up on her lap as well to help warm the egg. "It's mostly for the third Gym anyways. This little fellow will do just fine against Falkner."

"But we're still out of Poké Balls, aren't we?" Kale asked.

Zora's smile faded. "We are," she admitted. "We'll take a rest here for a bit, then we'll go back to New Bark Town to get some money from mom. Then we can buy two more Poké Balls, have three in total, and then try our luck in Route 46."

"Are we going to hatch the egg first or after getting the Geodude?" Kale asked.

"Probably the first thing we have to do," Zora replied. "It will take a while, but we have plenty of time. We may as well also train Dingbat and Bushy in Sprout Tower. Bushy will become more useful when she evolves into Furret. And Dingbat will be even better the stronger he becomes. Once the egg hatches, we will have to train the little one inside as well, until it's strong enough to take on Falkner's Pokémon."

"Sounds like a plan," Kale commented. "Do you think we'll get the Geodude tonight?"

Zora hummed at the question, gazing at the egg. "I don't know," she replied. "I hope so. But I don't think so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're getting somewhere!  
> DS needs some power, so I'm not sure if I can have the next chapter out tonight.  
> Tomorrow and for the rest of the week I have to work on an exam project, so I will probably not have much time to write stories next week.  
> I'll try to get some more done tonight.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 0  
> Live Pokémon: 6  
> Death counter: 0


	5. Mother

After a few hours of resting and eating another sandwich Zora had packed before leaving home, the egg started moving. Kale woke up and leapt off Zora's lap, both watching as it hatched in her lap.

Out of the egg came a tiny Mareep.

"Aw, hello there, little guy!" Zora said as it gazed at her with its big glossy eyes. "I will call you Bambi."

Kale gazed interested at the baby. "Hi there, Bambi," he greeted. "I'm Kale. Welcome to the team."

Bambi gazed from Zora to Kale and wagged his tail excitedly. "Hi!" he chirped.

Zora pet his head and felt on the fluffy wool. She smiled. "Let's see… You seem quiet. Very nice. Could probably have been better, but this is really good too."

Kale and Bambi gazed confused at her. "What do you mean?" Kale asked.

"Nothing," Zora replied. "Bambi is pretty strong, but he's probably going to be a bit slow. No worries, we'll train him to get faster and stronger at the same time."

Kale sighed. Bambi looked between them. "Am I good?" he asked confused.

"Yes, you are very good," Zora said and brought out a Poké Ball. "Touch this, please. You must be exhausted from all the hatching."

"Okay," Bambi replied and touched the Poké Ball.

He went inside, and the ball clicked immediately. Newly hatched Pokémon were the easiest to catch, although it could barely be called a catch, since they already belonged to their Trainers as they arrived from the eggs.

Zora got up and put the Poké Ball away. "Alright, Kale, we've rested enough," she said. "We should get going so we can get my money back from my mom before she spends them all again. Geez, how much did she spend on this one Super Potion? I should never have left my money with her."

They left the Pokémon Center and went out again, aiming for New Bark Town, having to go all the long way back.

"Don't be so hard on your mother, Zora," Kale replied. "She's just trying to help…"

"Well, she isn't," Zora replied. "I thought my money would be safe with her, but it turns out they aren't. I need this money to buy Poké Balls so I can catch my encounters, or I'll lose a valuable Pokémon."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence before she continued.

"I have to look after my money on my own. I have to make my own purchases. I can't depend on my mother my entire life. I have to take care of myself from now on. Myself, and you guys, of course."

Kale silenced at that. "I see what you mean," he replied. "Well, just don't be too hard on her, okay?"

"I'll be gentle, don't worry."

They ran all the way back to New Bark Town without encountering anything on their way – except for plucking two Apricorns on the way – and entered Zora's house to confront her mother.

"Hi, mom," Zora greeted.

"Oh, hi Zora!" mother greeted with a smile. "I've kept your room tidy… or is this about your money?"

"It's about my money," Zora replied, feeling a bit nervous about her words. "I've decided… I don't want you to… save my money anymore. And… I want my money back… please?"

Her mother looked surprised at Zora. "Dear Zora, you don't have to feel guilty about asking me that! I'm sorry I spent your money like that, I thought it would help you on your journey…"

"It will, eventually," Zora replied, struggling to keep her voice in order. "But my team isn't that strong yet, and I can get Super Potions myself when the time comes. But… I need my own money to look after myself. I need to have control over my own money. I need to have enough money available when I need them. I've needed them several times now and not had enough… So… I don't want you to… look after me anymore…"

Zora wouldn't look her mother in the eyes. She must think Zora was being selfish, arrogant or mean. Zora was on the verge of tearing up. What if her words hurt her mother? She didn't want to make her mother sad or hurt…

Mother got up and wrapped her arms around Zora in a tight embrace. Zora hugged her mother back and couldn't hold her tears back anymore.

"Dear Zora, I know how hard that must have been to say," mother said. "I'm so proud of you, you know that? You're only ten, yet you're already acting like a grown-up. I guess… I'm just sad to see my baby go so soon. You kids grow up too fast. Faster than we adults feel comfortable with."

Zora didn't respond, merely thinking about her mother's words. Thinking about Fluffy. Thinking about what could happen to Kale, and Dingbat, and Bambi, and everyone else on her team. Planning and making sure she got the right Pokémon for her journey. Making sure she would beat the Champion and keep all her Pokémon safe and alive. It was all very stressful to think about, and she had only just started her journey. But getting hugged and reassured by her mother helped.

"I will respect the decisions you make on your journey," mother said. "You take good care of your Pokémon. You spend your money wisely. You keep yourself safe. You go make some friends and have fun. Just… call me once in a while, okay? Just so I know you're doing well. Can you promise me that?"

"Uh-huh," Zora replied, barely able to keep her voice under control through the tears. "I'll miss you, mom. I'll make sure to visit you at some point. I'll call you when I have time. I'll tell you I'm alright. I love you."

"I love you too, Zora," mother said. "My big girl."

They remained in the embrace for another minute before pulling away. Zora wiped her tears away.

"I'm okay now," Zora replied. "I'm fine. I'll be okay. Kale will be okay, and everyone else will be alright. I…" She looked down at Kale, then back at her mother. "I was planning to catch a Geodude tonight… but I'm tired, and it's so late… Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Of course, dear!" mother replied with a chuckle. "This is your home! It's your room! You can always sleep here! I'll make you a meal and bring it to your room. You go upstairs and get some rest. I'll be up in a few minutes."

Zora smiled and gestured Kale to follow. They went upstairs, into Zora's room, which Kale had never been in before.

"Nice place you got here," Kale commented and jumped on the bed. "So you've decided to wait with the Geodude until tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Zora replied. "It's too late, and with Bambi hatching and everything, it wasn't going to work anyway. I was pushing myself too hard on my first day. You know, I got seven Pokémon today, that's pretty impressive for my first day, right?"

"I think it's very impressive," Kale replied. "And I bet the others agree."

Zora smiled at the Chikorita. "Well, let's find out. Come out, everyone!"

Zora brought out her Poké Balls and sent out her other five Pokémon; Bushy the Sentret, Fly Boy the Pidgey, Dingbat the Zubat, Dummy the Rattata and Bambi the Mareep. They all looked around in the room.

"Where are we?" Dingbat asked. "I can't see anything."

"You don't have any eyes," Bushy remarked.

"Oh yeah, that's right… I can't wait to evolve."

"Is this your place, Trainer?" Dummy asked. "Looks similar to Sprout Tower."

"This looks nothing like Sprout Tower," Fly Boy argued. "It's much smaller!"

"I just meant it's made of wood."

"That barely has anything to do with anything."

"Hi, I'm new, what are your names?" Bambi greeted the others. "My name is Bambi."

"Oh hi, I'm Fly Boy."

"I'm… Dummy, I guess," the Rattata replied. "Are you a baby? You're really small."

"Yes, Bambi just hatched about an hour ago," Zora replied, getting everyone's attention. "I brought you out here because I wanted you to see my place. And because I wanted you to get some real rest. We're sleeping here for the night, and tomorrow, we're training hard. All day. Until darkness falls and we have another chance at getting a Geodude in Route 46."

"Why do we need a Geodude?" Dingbat asked confused. "Those guys are mean. They keep throwing rocks at me and my homies."

"We need it for the third Gym," Zora replied. "The third Gym is said to be really tough unless one has a Rock type Pokémon, which Geodude is. I know it's a bit far away, but this is too good an opportunity to let alone. So we're going to take it. First though, we need to rest. And then train. And wait. We have plenty of time tomorrow before we have to go into Falkner's Gym and beat up his bird Pokémon. We can get the Geodude before or after the Gym, it doesn't matter."

Zora turned to Bambi the Mareep. "Bambi, you are the most important player in our battle against Falkner," she informed. "You are an Electric type, so his Pidgey and Pidgeotto will be weak to you, and you will resist their Flying type moves. We need to train you up so you become strong and learn Thundershock. It will take a while, but you'll get there before we have to enter the Gym."

"O-oh-kay," Bambi replied. "I'm not sure I followed everything you just said… but I'll do my best!"

"Good," Zora said and turned to Dingbat the Zubat. "Dingbat, your job is to get us through the second Gym, in Azalea Town. The Gym Leader there has Bug type Pokémon, which you are strong against. You will be just at the same strength as his ace when you learn Wing Attack, so that will be a bit difficult."

Zora then turned to Fly Boy the Pidgey. "But that's alright, because we have Fly Boy too. You will learn Gust pretty soon, so you will be our backup for anything Grass or Bug."

Zora turned to Dummy and Bushy. "You two… don't have to worry about battles. You are useful in your own ways. You have the ability to get us to various places, when the time comes. So don't feel pressured to do any fighting. Though I may have to use you to weaken some weaker Pokémon we have to catch, like that Geodude in Route 46."

"Okay," Bushy said, a bit disappointed.

"Well, better them than me," Dummy said, relieved.

Zora looked over at Kale on her bed. "Kale, you are our strongest team member at the moment," Zora explained. "But you have several weaknesses that the others will have to fill in for you, notably your weakness against Flying, Bug, Ice and Fire type moves, all of which can be taken care of by a single Rock type Pokémon like Geodude. Geodude, however, is very weak to you, so when it comes down to it, you can't fight it."

"So what do you want me to do?" Kale asked.

"Well, actually, now that I think about it, you can be of use when we find the Geodude," Zora said, an idea springing to mind. "Remember how we caught Dummy? You will poison the Geodude, then we'll stall for time by having you and one of the others repeatedly run back and forth, until it's weak enough to be caught."

"Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with that strategy you came up with," Kale replied. "You should have ordered me to do that to begin with instead of wasting two Poké Balls."

"You don't have to rub it in," Zora pouted. "But it's alright. We all make mistakes. The important thing about mistakes is that you learn from them, which we have. I know what to do now. We know what to do now. At least with the weaker Pokémon. The poison strategy probably won't work well when we get to the stronger Pokémon in the region, but we'll have to do what we can for now."

Kale smiled at Zora. "You're going to be a good Trainer, I think," Kale said. "You seem to have everything under control."

"I hope so," Zora replied and sat down on her bed. "I'm super scared. I don't know what I'll do if I lose any of you."

Kale pat Zora on the shoulder with his head leaf. The others shared confused glances.

"Lose us?" Fly Boy repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Right, we forgot to tell you this," Kale answered instead, "but Zora has the Nuzlocke condition."

This made a few of the other Pokémon pale in their faces.

"N-Nuzlocke?!" Dingbat repeated. "I've heard my homies talk about that condition! They've overheard some Trainers talk about it when out flying at night!"

"So that's why you're only catching one Pokémon in each area," Fly Boy said in realization. "Oh no…"

Bambi looked back and forth between the others, having no clue what they were talking about. "What? What? What is Nuzlocke? What is it?"

Zora looked down at the Mareep. "It…" she began, but couldn't continue.

"It means if you lose in a battle, you will die," Kale answered instead.

"What's die?" Bambi asked.

"It's like…" Dummy began. "…falling asleep, and never waking up."

Bambi looked shocked at the Rattata."Wh-what? Never waking up? After falling a-asleep?"

"Yeah, so don't die," Dingbat said. "You got a lot to learn, kiddo."

Bambi began shaking with a terrified look on his face, now just as pale as the others' were. "B-but… if it's a condition that Zora has… why does it affect _us_? Why do _we_ die?"

"No one really knows," Zora said, drawing attention to her. "I've read countless articles about it, but none of them give a confirming answer. Some believe Trainers with the Nuzlocke condition has some kind of cursed aura that affects the Pokémon they own in Poké Balls. But…"

Zora silenced for a while. The others waited for her to continue. Bambi was impatient though. "But what?"

"A few weeks ago, I had an Eevee named Fluffy," Zora decided to explain. "I had him for years, since I was just four years old. But a few weeks ago… he died."

The Pokémon gazed at each other and back at their Trainer. "How… did he die?" Bushy asked.

Zora gazed at Dummy for a moment. "He was killed by a Rattata," she admitted.

Everyone looked at Dummy, who seemed astonished at the revelation. "Hey, it wasn't me!" she exclaimed. "I was born in Sprout Tower and have always lived there! I've never met an Eevee before in my life!"

The others gazed between each other. "Right, sorry," Fly Boy said. "To be honest, you don't seem like the kind of jerks Rattata in the forest are. They're so annoying."

Dummy seemed to smile a bit at that.

"Before Fluffy died," Zora continued, bringing them back to attention, "I had a dream."

"What kind of dream?" Bambi asked curiously.

"Not sure. I only really heard a voice. I've never heard it before. I think there was also a silhouette, but I couldn't make out what it was. I think… I think it might have been a Pokémon."

"A Pokémon?" Bushy repeated. "A Pokémon that appeared in your dream?"

"What did it say?" Kale asked.

"Something about a special power," Zora said, trying to remember what the voice had said. "And consequences. Something about… my Pokémon being as vulnerable as I am. After I woke up from that dream, I could understand what Fluffy said. And I can understand what you all say."

"So you think that dream has something to do with your Nuzlocke condition?" Dingbat asked.

"That's what I believe," Zora replied. "Though I didn't see in any articles anyone else with the condition mention such a dream. Maybe they had it and forgot about it. Or maybe they didn't have one and I did. I don't know."

Silence fell over the team for a while. Then they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They looked over as Zora's mother entered her room, carrying a plate of spaghetti.

"I warmed some leftover pasta from the fridge," mother said with a smile. "I hope that's alright."

"That's okay," Zora replied and accepted the plate of spaghetti with no sauce. "I'll enjoy this meal. Thanks."

Mother stroke Zora on the hat with a smile. "Enjoy your meal, dear. Do you want me to bring anything for your Pokémon?"

The Pokémon all looked attentively at Zora's mother, even Dingbat who couldn't see. Zora smiled at the sight.

"Do we have any berries left?" she asked.

"Yes, we have some Oran, Pecha and Sitrus Berries left," mother replied. "Shall I bring them up?"

Zora looked down at her Pokémon. "Are you guys hungry?" she asked.

Everyone nodded eagerly. Zora smiled. "Yes please. One of each for everyone."

Zora's mother smiled widely. "Coming up!" she said and descended to the floor below.

Zora waited with eating her pasta until her mother returned with the berries, so they could all eat together. After her mother left again and said goodnight, Zora and her team said thanks for the meal before diving in. The Pokémon had been working hard all day, and Zora had barely eaten anything, other than two sandwiches and a glass of milk.

Bambi found the berries tasted amazing and loved it all. Everyone was happy they had such a nice Trainer to look after them, even though they knew all their lives were in danger. They didn't have Arceus' protection anymore, or whatever it was that kept Pokémon from dying in battle against other Pokémon, specifically Pokémon owned by humans.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Zora took her hat off to not get overheated during the night, and placed it on a shelf along with her bag. She kept her clothes on though, but took off her Running Shoes before settling into her bed. Her Pokémon climbed onto her bed and settled in around her, Kale and Bambi on either side of her head, Bushy and Dummy settling on top of her, and Fly Boy nestling right by Kale.

Only Dingbat decided not to snuggle, instead grabbing hold of the top of the shelf with his two long tails, hanging upside-down and covered his tiny body with his large wings, only the big ears sticking out. Technically, as he was a nocturnal Pokémon, it would have made more sense for him to fly out and explore the town, but being bound by a Poké Ball and loyal to his Trainer, he was forced to stay behind.

Zora smiled, feeling much safer and secure with her Pokémon surrounding her. Professor Elm was right. Walking with Pokémon was definitely better than carrying them all in their Poké Balls.

Tomorrow, she would make sure to walk with as many of them as possible, to bond as closely with them as possible.

With the warmth, twitches and snores of her Pokémon on her, Zora did not take long to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not much happened here, but next chapter, there will be training!  
> Probably not today though. Probably tomorrow. Maybe. If I get time for it. Got school stuff to do.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 0  
> Live Pokémon: 7  
> Death counter: 0


	6. Training

When Zora woke up the next morning, all her Pokémon were already up and playing on the floor. The only exception to this was Bambi, still snoozing next to her head like a fluffy pillow. Zora rose to sit and stretched out, catching her Pokémon's attention. Bambi remained asleep.

"Morning, Zora!" Kale greeted happily. "Sleep well?"

"Best sleep I've ever had," Zora said with a giggle. "And you guys?"

Everyone nodded and smiled, having slept well too. Zora smiled back and looked down at the sleeping Bambi. She gently stroke the wooly body.

"Bambi, time to wake up," she said calmly.

After a few seconds, Bambi eventually awoke and yawned. He rose to his legs, stretched and ruffled his wool, his tail swinging from side to side. Afterwards he jumped onto the floor and joined the others. Even Dingbat had awoken and was flapping his wings to keep airborne, as he had no legs to sit or stand with.

Zora put on her Running Shoes and got up, walked past her team and grabbed her hat and bag, putting both on. She then turned back to her team and smiled.

"Are you guys ready to train?" she asked.

"Yes!" everyone answered at the same time, with Bambi lagging behind with just a second.

"Alright," Zora replied. "Let's go!"

* * *

After eating breakfast and saying goodbye to Zora's mother again, promising to stop by or call once a while, the team exited her house and they set out to Route 29 to start training.

"Okay, so how are we going to train?" Kale asked. "We've got a lot of team members, and it will take a while to get to my level. What's your plan, Zora?"

"Alright," Zora replied and turned to her team before entering the tall grass. "Like I said yesterday, we need to train up Fly Boy, Dingbat and Bambi, so they're all ready to fight in the first two Gyms. So… Bushy and Dummy should probably go back in their balls."

Zora held up two Poké Balls, and Bushy the Sentret and Dummy the Rattata returned into their respective balls. The four remaining Pokémon gazed attentively at Zora as she put them away.

"Now, Bambi is the one who needs the most training here," Zora continued. "You are the most important player for this first Gym, as Falkner specializes in Flying type Pokémon. For the second Gym, we will need Dingbat, but he will not be of much use until the actual battle against the Gym Leader there. So until then, we will train up Fly Boy so he can be our backup for Grass and Bug Pokémon, but just until Dingbat learns Wing Attack."

The team looked at each other and back at their Trainer, taking in the information, trying to memorize it.

"As for the Geodude… I've thought about it, and now I think it might be better if we wait with getting it until after we beat Falkner."

"Why so?" Kale asked.

"You know how we get prize money from beating other Trainers?" Zora said. "And how low we are on money right now? And how we only have one Poké Ball left and we can only afford two more? If we wait until after we beat Falkner, we'll have more money, we can buy more Poké Balls, and thus we'll have greater chances of catching that Geodude."

"I'm still not following why we need a Geodude so badly," Dingbat remarked. "Why do we need it for the third Gym?"

"The third Gym Leader specializes in Normal type Pokémon," Zora explained. "Her ace is a Miltank, and from what I've read online, it's a really tough Pokémon. However, it does not have any moves that are good or even effective against Rock type Pokémon. Therefore, we need a Geodude to take the Miltank's hits while we break down its stamina. Do you get it now?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess that makes sense…" Dingbat replied.

"So who do we train first?" Fly Boy asked.

Zora turned her gaze to Bambi. "Bambi will be the first we train up," she replied. "He's still newly hatched, so he has a lot of learning to do. Kale, I think you'll have to coach your teammates while we train. Especially Bambi, since he's so frail now. Are you up for it?"

Kale smile and nodded. "You can count on me!"

Zora smiled back. "Alright, if everyone understands, then let's get a move on!"

Zora turned to the tall grass and wandered into it, with Bambi right by her side, the others walking in the back. Bambi needed to be in the front so he could as much experience as possible.

Something leapt out at them, and they stopped up. It was a Hoothoot, and it seemed ready to fight.

"Oh! Do I fight this?" Bambi asked nervously.

"Not yet," Zora said. "Kale, get out here!"

Kale perked at the call and got out. Bambi stepped back and let Kale get in front.

"Okay, kid, watch and learn," Kale said.

After the Hoothoot tackled him, Kale launched a Razor Leaf, which instantly knocked out the owl. Bambi gasped in awe.

"But how?" Bambi exclaimed. "Aren't birds strong against Grass?"

"They are, but Kale is so strong, type match-up didn't matter in this case," Zora explained. "Let's do one more fight, and watch closely what Kale does, Bambi."

They moved on through the grass until they ran into another Hoothoot, this one a little stronger than the other one. Zora called Kale forth, and Bambi stepped back to watch how Kale fought.

"Kale, use a Tackle this time," Zora ordered.

Kale tackled the Hoothoot, not doing as much damage as he had to the other one, but still a decent amount. The Hoothoot growled at him, but Kale wasn't the least bit scared of this clock bird. He launched another Tackle, doing less damage than before. Bambi looked on in wonder as the Hoothoot growled again.

"Why are his attacks getting weaker?" Bambi asked confused.

"When a Pokémon growls, the opponent gets uncomfortable and can't put as much strength in their physical attacks as normal," Zora explained. "But it's no problem here, since Kale is still pretty strong. Take it out, boy!"

Kale launched another, weaker Tackle, followed by the Hoothoot growling once again. Kale snorted.

"This thing is getting annoying," he hissed. "But one more Tackle should do the trick!"

With one last Tackle, the Hoothoot was knocked unconscious. Bambi looked on in awe.

"I… I think I get it now," Bambi said as the fight was over. "Can… Can I try fighting one?"

"Maybe," Zora said. "If we can find something weak…"

They walked on in the grass, until another Hoothoot appeared before them, this one seemingly as weak as the first one they encountered.

"Okay, I think you can try fighting this one, Bambi," Zora said, and Bambi eagerly went forth. "Tackle it!"

Hoothoot launched a Tackle of its own before Bambi could hit it, but the action caused the bird to get paralyzed by the sparks launching from Bambi's wool. Bambi launched his own Tackle, but didn't do much damage.

"This… is harder than I thought," Bambi said. "I'm not doing as much damage as Kale did…"

"That's okay, you gave it a status condition," Zora replied. "It should be slower than you now, and it might be unable to attack. Just keep hitting it. If you get too injured, Kale will help you."

"Okay," Bambi replied and went for another Tackle.

The Hoothoot began inspecting Bambi, searching for weaknesses, making the sheep a bit uncertain, but nothing bad happened. After launching his third Tackle, Hoothoot tried to move, but seemed to be locked in its spot. After another two Tackles from Bambi, Hoothoot managed to land a Tackle of its own on him. Bambi had gained quite a few bruises, and with only one Potion to spare, Zora was unsure if it was wise to keep him in the battle.

"One more Tackle," Zora decided. "You can do it!"

After tackling the Hoothoot again, it growled at Bambi, and the Mareep stepped back by the growl, getting uncomfortable.

"I don't know if I can take it out," Bambi said, almost scared. "What should I do?"

"Tackle it again," Zora ordered. "You can do it. You'll be fine. I believe in you."

Bambi gazed at Zora and let out a sigh, then put on a determined expression. He got back up and stared at the Hoothoot.

Bambi sprinted forward and launched another Tackle, hitting the Hoothoot in the belly, landing a critical hit and taking it out. Bambi stood and gasped.

"I… I did it," Bambi said, then bounced happily. "I did it! My first battle! I beat my first opponent! I won!"

Bambi jumped into Zora's arms, and Zora hugged him tightly. "You did it, Bambi! I'm so proud of you!"

"Good job, Bambi!" Kale praised as the Mareep was let down again.

"Very impressive!" Dingbat said.

"You're going to be an amazing fighter, Bambi!" Fly Boy cheered.

Bambi blushed and giggled at all the compliments. "I'll do my best, everyone!"

* * *

After Bambi's first fight, Zora decided to mostly let Kale handle the fights from then on, both when training Bambi and also when training Dingbat and Fly Boy, as they were all still a bit weak. It was an unusually dark day, overcast and gray, so the Pokémon in the wild seemed to think it was still night, hence why there were so many Hoothoot and no Sentret or Pidgey out. They also ran into some Rattata, which were active both day and night.

Kale took out another eight Hoothoot and two Rattata while training Bambi, when Zora decided it was time to train Fly Boy, as he only needed a little more experience before being able to handle himself without Kale. At that point, Bambi learned how to growl at others and couldn't wait to use it in battle himself.

By the time Fly Boy was strong enough to handle himself in battle, Kale had taken out another three Hoothoot and one Rattata, and had grown a little stronger himself. Furthermore, Fly Boy learned how to throw sand in an opponent's eyes to blind them. Zora decided it was time to train Dingbat and sent Fly Boy back in the sidelines with Bambi to watch as Kale started training the Zubat.

While Dingbat became strong enough to handle himself in a fight after Kale had defeated an additional eight Hoothoot and two Rattata, the only move he had learned other than Leech Life was Supersonic, which wasn't very reliable. He wouldn't learn Bite until a good while yet, and the next move he would learn was Astonish, which would not have any effect on Normal type Pokémon, as it was a Ghost type move.

Instead, Zora decided to let Bambi and Fly Boy train themselves against the Hoothoot and Rattata in the area now, to get more experience and grow stronger themselves. After his first battle, Bambi seemed a lot more confident now in his abilities. Bambi took out twelve Hoothoot and two Rattata by himself, and Fly Boy defeated ten Hoothoot and three Rattata on his own. Bambi was almost knocked out by the second Hoothoot he fought alone, however, which very much scared Zora. After that, however, Bambi swooped through the wild Pokémon living in the area.

Dingbat still had to rely on Kale for training, however, as he was still pretty useless in regards to moves. Only being able to confuse and leech the target meant his first battle took a really long time. Kale took out the rest of the Hoothoot they encountered with a combination of PoisonPowder, Razor Leaf and Tackle. For the Rattata, Kale merely used Razor Leaf to one-shot them.

With regular visits to Professor Elm's lab to heal up the team, Zora's Pokémon eventually seemed ready to train in the Sprout Tower. Fly Boy had learned Gust, Dingbat had learned Astonish after Kale had taken out another forty-six Hoothoot and twelve Rattata, and Bambi was almost ready to learn Thundershock.

"The Rattata and Gastly in the tower should be about as weak as the ones on Route 29," Zora explained as they made their way to Violet City, running from all wild encounters on the way there. "The real challenge there are the Sages."

"The Sages?" Kale asked. "Who are they?"

"Remember those guys we snuck past while we were getting Dummy? We have to defeat those in order to take on Falkner."

"How do you know this?" Fly Boy asked curiously.

"I've been studying the Gyms in Johto for three weeks, preparing for this journey," Zora replied. "I've learned a few secrets here and there."

"What kind of secrets?" Bambi asked curiously.

"You'll see," Zora simply replied. "Here we are."

By the time they had arrived in Violet City, the clouds had dispersed from the sky, but the sun was still close to setting. The Gastly had probably not come out yet. They went to the tower but didn't go inside right away.

"I would like for Bambi to learn Thundershock before we fight the Sages," Zora said. "So he has a better chance against Flying type Pokémon. So we'll fight the Rattata and whatever Gastly we may find living here until that happens, alright?"

"Sure thing!" the team replied in unison.

"Then let's get to work!"

* * *

Both Bambi and Fly Boy trained against the Rattata living there, both of them taking out four Rattata each before Bambi finally learned Thundershock and could now do real damage against Flying or Water type Pokémon. As such, Zora decided it was time to fight the Sages and went to the bottom floor, where the first two were.

"Only one of these two fight, I think," Zora said. "All the Sages should only have Bellsprout, except for the last two. They also have a Hoothoot each. For now, though, I think Dingbat should train against the Bellsprout."

"Alright, boss," Dingbat replied. "Bring it on."

Zora walked over to the first Sage, uncertain if he was the one to fight. He wasn't, so she walked over to the second Sage, by the ladder, but he wouldn't fight either. Zora seemed confused.

"I thought you said one of the Sages would fight us?" Dingbat said in confusion.

"So did I," Zora said. "Maybe… could he be behind one of the walls? In that case we must move to the next floor and fight through the other Sages first. Since your only good move at the moment is Astonish, we'll run away from any Rattata we meet."

"Okay," Dingbat replied. "Lead on."

Zora and Dingbat went up the stairs – the others had been tucked back into their Poké Balls for convenience, the first Kale had been back in his ball since being given to Zora – and wandered through the tower, spotting the first Sage and engaging him in battle.

With Astonish learned, Dingbat was indeed much more useful in fighting the Bellsprout. As they were weak, and the only attacking move they knew was Vine Whip – having almost no effect on the Flying and Poison type Zubat – Dingbat easily took care of them with Leech Life and Astonish, occasionally making the Bellsprout flinch with the latter move.

Dingbat barely got a scratch by the time they beat the first Sage. He handed over his prize money to Zora, eagerly accepting the only thing that could get her more Poké Balls, and moved on downwards to fight the next Sage.

After finding a Parlyz Heal on the floor and beating the second Sage, Zora went up the next ladder back to the first floor, searching for the third Sage and running from two Rattata in the progress. After finding an X Accuracy, she found the Sage and battled him.

Climbing up the ladder to the last floor with the final four Sages in, Zora picked up a Potion from the floor before engaging the first of the final Sages in battle. This guy only had one Bellsprout, but it was slightly stronger than the others. It still did not know any other attacking move than Vine Whip though, so it too was taken out without a problem.

The next Sage also only had one Bellsprout, about as strong and ineffective as the last one. Dingbat beat it by sucking the life out of it with Leech Life, getting back some strength at the same time.

Now they were ready for the second last Sage. He had both a Bellsprout and a Hoothoot, so Zora started with having Dingbat take out his Bellsprout with Astonish, Supersonic and Leech Life. When the Sage sent out his Hoothoot, Zora decided to bring out Bambi to take it out.

"Now to see if your training has paid off," Zora said. "Use Thundershock!"

Hoothoot use Hypnosis, but Bambi managed to avoid the attack and used Thundershock, one-shotting the Hoothoot and ending the battle. The Sage admitted defeat, and Zora got her prize money and victory.

"Good job, Bambi!" Zora praised. "Alright, we're getting to the last Sage… wait, what's going on?"

Up ahead, in front of the final Sage, the Elder, stood the boy with crimson hair, whose name Zora had learned was Silver. It seemed as if a battle between the two had just ended. Silver was unreadable, but it seemed he had been victorious.

"You showed us what you've got, and it is indeed good…" the Elder said. "Take this Technical Machine. However, you should care more about your Pokémon. The way you treat your Pokémon can be too harsh… Remember, Pokémon are not tools of war…"

Silver turned away from the Elder, with an annoyed expression on his face. He snorted.

"He calls himself the Elder, but he was no match for me," Silver muttered to himself, though loud enough that Zora and the Elder could both hear. "Sure enough, those who lecture how you should be 'nice' to Pokémon… They cannot defeat me. All I care about are strong Pokémon that win every time. The rest of them don't mean anything to me."

Silver tucked on the Escape Rope around his waist, which Zora hadn't noticed until now, and practically disappeared from sight in the next second. Escape Ropes were very handy to quickly get out of any cramped space like a building, dungeon or cave, while avoiding encountering any and all Pokémon on the way out.

Zora gazed from the spot Silver disappeared off to, to the Elder standing at the end of the room, waiting for her to approach him. She looked at Dingbat beside her.

"Are you ready to take on the Elder?" she asked.

Dingbat nodded in determination. Zora stepped forward, meeting up with the Elder. He seemed to smile at the sight of the young girl.

"So good of you to come here!" he greeted. "Sprout Tower is a place of training. People and Pokémon test their bonds to build a bright future together. I am the final test. Allow me to check the ties between you and your Pokémon!"

Elder Li sent out his first Bellsprout, which Dingbat took out with two Astonishes, a Supersonic and Leech Life. Then Elder Li sent out his Hoothoot, and Zora decided to bring out Bambi for it. This Hoothoot was much stronger than the ones they had encountered in the grass, and stronger than the one the last Sage had used.

"As long as it doesn't land a Hypnosis, we should be fine," Zora said. "Bambi, use Thundershock and take it out!"

Instead of using Hypnosis, the Hoothoot growled, and Bambi took advantage of its mistake to land a Thundershock. It went down in health, but not enough.

"Another Thundershock should take it out," Zora said. "Do it!"

The Hoothoot pecked Bambi in the face, which did almost nothing because of his protective wool, and he landed another Thundershock, taking out the Hoothoot.

"Great job, Bambi!" Zora praised happily. "Dingbat, you take out the last Bellsprout!"

Bambi stepped back, letting Dingbat forth to face the last opponent, the second Bellsprout.

With his two last Astonishes, a Supersonic and Leech Life, the Bellsprout ended up knocking itself out, and they had won the battle against Elder Li.

"Good job, you two!" Zora cheered, hugging both Bambi and Dingbat. "I'm so proud of you two!"

The Elder smiled at the sight. "Hmmm… The way you battle is quite elegant," he said. "You should be able to stand up to Falkner. And you should be able to make good use of this…"

Zora let down Bambi to accept the TM from Elder Li. Her first TM.

"It is a Technical Machine called Flash," Elder Li explained. "Take it with you!"

"Wow, thanks, Elder," Zora replied with a smile and put the TM away in her bag.

"When a Pokémon learns Flash, you can illuminate caves no matter how dark they may be. You can try it on Bellsprout, for example…"

"Uh, but I don't have a Bellsprout," Zora said. "But maybe one of my other Pokémon can learn it. Thanks for the battle, old man! I'll be going now!"

Elder Li smiled and nodded. "I hope you learn and grow from your journey," he said. "There is an Escape Rope over there, that can take you to the entrance right away."

Zora looked in the way he pointed and smiled back. "Thanks," she repeated.

She walked over to the Escape Rope and tied it around her waist.

"Okay, get back in your Pokéballs, guys," Zora said. "It'll make the trip out easier."

Dingbat and Bambi both got back into their Poké Balls, and Zora put them back on her ball belt with the others. She tucked on the Escape Rope and arrived at the entrance of Sprout Tower barely a minute later.

After arriving outside, Zora let out Kale again, not having talked to him for a while now.

"Hey, congrats on beating the Sages," Kale said. "So what now? Are we going for the Gym?"

"Not yet, but soon," Zora replied. "We could probably take him on tonight. But we've been battling and training all day. We need a rest before we go in the Gym. So we'll stay at the Pokémon Center for a bit, eat some dinner and relax a bit."

"Okay, I can roll with that," Kale said.

They went inside the Pokémon Center, healed up the team, and then went over to the corner where there were some couches, shelves and a table. Zora let out her other Pokémon, including Bushy and Dummy who hadn't been training at all, and handed out berries to everyone, brought from home. While they were eating berries, Zora ate a sandwich she had packed before they left, along with zipping on a juice box. Training all day sure made one hungry.

While she ate, she thought about the upcoming battle against Falkner, as well as the Gym Trainers before him. Soon, she would have her very first Gym Badge. And then she could finally go get the Geodude she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished my exam project, so now I have all weekend to play and write my Nuzlocke story! :D  
> I will continue writing on my Transformers stories after my exams are over and Christmas Vacation sets in.  
> Until then, I will only write this story. Hope you drakies don't mind. <:)
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 0  
> Live Pokémon: 7  
> Death counter: 0


	7. The First Gym

After having rested for about two hours with eating, napping and just relaxing in the lounge, Zora decided it was time to get going. Bushy and Dummy went back into their Poké Balls, while everyone else followed alongside Zora.

Zora did not go outside immediately, however. She went over to the PC instead, to check on Buzz Lady in the box.

"What, are you thinking of bringing her along for the battle?" Fly Boy asked. "She won't be of much use against Flying-type Pokémon."

"I know that," Zora said. "I'm just wondering…"

"Wondering about what?" Kale asked curiously.

Zora remained silent for a while. "I read this thing online about Nuzlocke Trainers," she said. "When they go into Gyms, before they fight the Gym Leader… they often bring a weak Pokémon along as… death fodder."

All her Pokémon gazed shocked at her.

"No way!" Bambi exclaimed.

"You mean people sacrifice their Pokémon to win the battle?" Dingbat said in disbelief.

"You… you're not saying you're going to use Buzz Lady as death fodder," Fly Boy said concerned. "Are you?"

"No, of course she isn't," Kale protested with a stern expression at the others. "Zora isn't like that. Zora is kind, she cares about us. She won't sacrifice any one of us just to win a battle. Right, Zora?"

Zora was silent for a moment. Kale turned to look at her. "Zora?"

Zora had her hand hovering above the button to withdraw the boxed Pokémon into her party. Then she let it fall to her side. She turned back to her party and looked down at them.

"You're right, Kale," Zora said, forcing a smile on her face. "I was considering it for a long time… but now I realize… I don't want to lose _any_ of you. Not even the weak ones. Not even Buzz Lady, or Dummy. I imagine sending one of you out to take a fatal hit… and it just breaks my heart. I can't do that to any of you. I don't think I have it in me."

Zora side-glanced the PC before walking away. "I won't sacrifice anyone," she said. "I don't care if it means some of you might die. I'd rather risk some of you dying than directly sacrificing anyone else."

The team gazed concerned at each other. "When you put it that way…" Dingbat said. "Maybe it does make sense…"

"No!" Bambi said in disbelief. "You can't seriously think it's alright to sacrifice someone to allow someone else to live?"

"No, he's right," Kale said, making the others look at him, even Zora. "In the long run, it does make sense to sacrifice someone to make sure the others survive."

"Isn't that what that Silver kid said earlier?" Dingbat voiced. "Didn't he say something about only caring about strong Pokémon and weak ones not mattering?"

"He did," Zora replied. "I just remembered that when I was about to take out Buzz Lady. And… I don't want to be like that guy. I'm sure some Nuzlocke Trainers are compassionate and only sacrifice the weak ones to allow their strongest fighters to make it all the way to the Pokémon League. So they can lift their curse and allow everyone to live and be happy."

Zora fell silent again, in deep thought. Kale sighed.

"But you're not like that," he answered her unspoken thought. "You don't have what it takes to sacrifice someone. Right?"

"Right," Zora replied. "I would blame myself forever if anything happened to any one of you, much less if I outright caused your deaths. I won't let what happened to Fluffy happen to any of you. I will get through this without losing anyone."

"That's probably a bit too ambitious goal," Dingbat said. "But I'm all in for it! Let's let everyone live!"

"Yeah!" Bambi said cheerfully. "I'm so glad we aren't sacrificing anyone!"

Zora smiled down at her Pokémon. "Well, we have a Gym to get to," she said. "Come on."

* * *

They left the Pokémon Center and went to the entrance of the Gym. Zora stood and stared at the door for a moment, gulping nervously.

"It's alright," she said, partly to her Pokémon, partly to herself. "The first Gym isn't that tough. Bambi can take out the birds without a problem. Right, Bambi?"

"Right!" Bambi replied almost immediately. "I won't let you down!"

Zora smiled and nodded. "Wait, let me check how much money we got now…" She looked at her Trainer Card, specifically at the money counter. "Sweet, we've got a little over 3000 Pokédollars," she said. "That's enough to buy 15 Poké Balls! But… we only have two Potions at the moment. Let me check my notes…"

Zora took out her notebook and went for the page about the first Gym. "Okay, the first Gym Trainer has a Spearow which knows Peck and Fury Attack. Shouldn't be much of a problem. The second Trainer has two Pidgey, both with Tackle and Sand Attack. They shouldn't be a problem either. Falkner's Pidgey knows Tackle and Gust, and his Pidgeotto knows Tackle, Gust, Quick Attack and Roost."

Zora put her notes and Trainer Card away. "The Flying-type moves won't do much against Bambi, and I don't think their Normal-type moves will do much either. We've trained against a lot of Hoothoot, so you guys should be pretty bulky now, especially Kale, since you took out most of them. But Bambi should also have received some bulk, so he should be fine."

The Pokémon just gazed up at their Trainer, waiting for her to sound the ready. She gazed down at them.

"I think we can do this without Potions," she said. "We'll just return to the Pokémon Center to heal up after we've beat the two Gym Trainers. We'll be fine. Let's go."

"Right!" everyone said in unison, and they went inside together.

As they entered the building and got a cheer from the Gym guard, Zora put everyone but Bambi back in their balls, as he was probably going to be the only one out in battle. The twosome went up the stairs and walked onto the elevator installed there. As soon as Zora stepped in the middle, the elevator went up, and within second they were at the top.

At the top of the Gym was a series of bridges, some made of wood and others of glass. There were two Gym Trainers on the wooden bridges, with Falkner the Gym Leader standing at the end, on a larger platform. Zora could choose whether to fight the Trainers before fighting the Leader or not.

"We'll fight them," Zora said to Bambi. "So you can get stronger and ready for Falkner's Pidgeotto. I don't think we'll lose, but I'm still concerned. You never know if anything goes wrong."

"Okay, I'm ready," Bambi said.

Zora nodded and stepped forward, facing the first Gym Trainer and engaging him in battle.

He sent out a Spearow, and Zora sent Bambi forth. The Spearow was faster than Bambi and pecked him, but didn't do any bad damage. Bambi one-shot the Spearow with a Thundershock. The first Gym Trainer was beat.

"The next guy shouldn't be a problem either," Zora said as they walked on through the wooden bridges. "His Pidgey only have Tackle. You can take them out in one hit each as well."

They faced the second Gym Trainer and fought his first Pidgey. It was faster than Bambi as well, but only tackled him, and he managed to take it out with a single Thundershock.

Bambi endured another Tackle from the second Pidgey, in which after he also took it out with one Thundershock. He grew stronger from the battle and seemed ready to take on Falkner.

"Let's go back to the Pokémon Center and heal up," Zora said, and they walked back to the elevator. "So you're at full strength when we fight Falkner."

"Okay," Bambi replied and followed suit.

They left the Gym and returned to the Pokémon Center, healed up, and then returned to the Gym, went back up the elevator and walked through the bridge puzzle until they faced against Falkner. Zora gulped. She didn't think anything bad could happen here, but she was still worried something could go wrong.

"Two Potions and one Super Potion," Zora listed in her medicine pocket. "Should be enough. We probably won't even have to use any of them. We're going to be fine. Ready, Bambi?"

Bambi looked up at his Trainer with a determined smile. "Ready!" he replied.

Zora nodded and took a deep breath. She stepped forward. Falkner smiled at the new Trainer's approach.

"I'm Falkner, the Violet City Pokémon Gym Leader!" he greeted. "People say you can clip Flying-type Pokémon's wings with a jolt of electricity…"

Zora and Bambi side-glanced each other before looking back at Falkner.

"I won't allow such insults to bird Pokémon!" he continued and took a stance, taking out a Poké Ball. "I'll show you the real power of the magnificent bird Pokémon! Let's go, Pidgey!"

Falkner threw his ball and let out his Pidgey. Bambi was sent forward. The battle had started.

"Bambi, use Thundershock, just like we practiced!" Zora ordered.

Falkner's Pidgey used Sand Attack, but despite his accuracy having been lowered, Bambi managed to land a Thundershock and knock out Pidgey. Falkner returned the Pidgey to its Poké Ball and put it away, instead taking out another.

"You're strong," Falkner said. "But you won't take out my last Pokémon so easily. Come out, Pidgeotto!"

Falkner threw the ball, and Pidgeotto emerged from it, much larger than the tiny Pidgey. Bambi looked up at it, a bit uncertain.

"It looks really strong," Bambi said. "And I can't see very well with this sand in my eyes. Do you think I can do this, Zora?"

"Of course you can," Zora encouraged. "I believe in you. Take out that Pidgeotto with your Thundershock!"

"The wind is finally with us!" Falkner said. "Pidgeotto, use Tackle!"

Pidgeotto went directly for a Tackle against Bambi, which didn't do too much damage to be worrisome. Bambi tried to use a Thundershock, but because of the sand in his eyes, he couldn't see the exact spot where Pidgeotto was, and missed the attack.

"No," Bambi whined. "I missed!"

"Try again!" Zora said with her hands clenched. "You can do it! One shot should take it out! Thundershock!"

Bambi went for another Thundershock, but not before Pidgeotto could Tackle it again, bringing Bambi down to below his full stamina. However, upon contact, Pidgeotto got paralyzed thanks to Bambi's special ability, Static.

"Awesome, it got paralyzed," Zora said. "Okay, I'll give you a Potion, Bambi. Here."

Zora healed up Bambi, so he was back at full strength. Despite its paralysis, Pidgeotto landed another Tackle. And then another one, bringing Bambi yet again down to low health, while Bambi missed another Thundershock. And there was only one Potion and one Super Potion left. Zora was getting worried.

"I'm… not feeling well, Zora," Bambi cried. "I can't do anything! What do we do?"

Zora stood in silence for a moment in thought. "Don't worry," she said. "Get back, Bambi!"

Bambi looked confused for a moment, but nonetheless stepped back. Falkner raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he remarked. "What are you going to bring out next?"

Zora brought out a Poké Ball and threw it. "Dingbat, you're up!"

Dingbat went out and took the Pidgeotto's next Tackle.

"What are your orders, boss?" Dingbat asked, ready for action.

"Confuse it! Please!" Zora said.

Dingbat threw a Supersonic, but missed.

"Your time is up," Falkner said. "Pidgeotto, use Gust!"

Pidgeotto threw a Gust in Dingbat's face, bringing him down to low health. Zora swore.

"This isn't good," Zora hissed, trying to think of a solution. "Damn that Sand Attack…"

There was only one solution she could think of. And it wasn't to her liking. She held on the Poké Ball of Dummy. Bambi did not fail to catch the motion.

"What are you doing?" he said in disbelief. "You… No! You're not thinking of sacrificing someone on the team?!"

"There's no other choice," Zora said. "We only have two potions left, and both you and Dingbat are wounded. If that Pidgeotto lands another hit on either of you, you could die. Will die. If I send out Dummy, I can heal you up, and you can take out Pidgeotto at full strength, with the sand gone."

"But Dummy will die!" Bambi screamed. "She's not strong enough to take any attack from that bird! You'll kill her!"

Zora gulped, feeling tears about to emerge from her eyes. "But… it's for the sake of the team…"

"I don't care!" Bambi hissed. "You promised! You promised us all that you wouldn't sacrifice anyone on the team! We're going to do this together! All for one and one for all! We're not leaving _anyone_ behind!"

Zora stared down at the Mareep. Was he really of the Quiet nature? Sure, he didn't normally say much or speak very loudly, but this was on a completely different level. Bambi was serious this time. He glared at Zora with angry eyes, but she could see them filling up with tears.

Bambi was scared. Legitimately frightened. This Gym was supposed to be easy, no losses necessary. But because of that one Pidgey's Sand Attack, Zora was close to losing two of her valuable Pokémon.

But Bambi was also right. Zora had made a promise to them. She lingered for a moment, uncertain what to do.

Her despairing expression turned into frustration, and she removed her hand from Dummy's Poké Ball. Instead, she went to the medicine pocket.

She grabbed the one remaining Potion and used it on Dingbat, bringing him back to nearly full health. Dingbat returned to the battlefield, ready to continue. Bambi let out a sigh of relief.

"Poor choice," Falkner commented. "Pidgeotto, Gust it!"

Pidgeotto landed another Gust on Dingbat, bringing him down to a little health. But instead of making him attack, Zora instead grabbed the Super Potion and turned to Bambi.

"Take this, Bambi," she said. "You hold him off, Dingbat!"

While Dingbat took another Gust and was nearly knocked out again, Zora healed up Bambi to full health. She turned around, looking at her very injured Zubat.

"You did well, Dingbat," she said. "Get back. You deserve some rest."

Dingbat returned to his Poké Ball, surviving the battle. Zora looked at Bambi.

"Go, Bambi," Zora said. "Sic 'em."

Bambi went forth as Pidgeotto launched another Gust. It barely did anything to Bambi.

"Thundershock!" Zora said. "Take it out! You can do it!"

This time, Bambi out-sped the Pidgeotto and landed the first Thundershock. Pidgeotto was not knocked out yet, however, but thanks to the paralysis, it seized and was unable to land another attack.

"Yes! Come on, one more!" Zora exclaimed. "Take it out!"

With another Thundershock landing before the Pidgeotto could Tackle him, Bambi brought the big bird down almost to unconsciousness, but not entirely. It was lingering on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness.

"Dang," Zora said. "So close."

"I will not allow you to take out my beloved Pokémon," Falkner said.

"No," Zora said. "He's gonna use a Potion. _Take it out now, Bambi! Quickly!_ "

Bambi immediately used another Thundershock, without missing, and before Falkner could heal it up. The Pidgeotto was electrified to a crisp, and the battle was won.

Zora stood speechlessly for a moment. "We… we did it?" she said in disbelief. "We did it…"

Falkner cringed and seemed to swear as his Pidgeotto fell. He called it back into its Poké Ball and stood in silence for a moment. Then a smile showed on his face.

"I understand now," he said silently. "I bow to you gracefully."

Falkner bowed in respect to Zora, who still stood and couldn't believe they had just won. Without sacrificing or losing a single Pokémon. As the realization hit her, a big grin showed on her face, and she grabbed Bambi.

"We did it, Bambi!" she laughed and spun around. "We beat the first Gym!"

"We did it! We did it!" Bambi said.

Falkner chuckled. "You may want to stop spinning, you might fall off the platform," he warned.

Realizing how dangerous that was, Zora immediately stopped spinning, but felt a little dizzy from it afterwards. She let down Bambi, and as she regained her balance, they both turned against Falkner.

Falkner facepalmed. "…For pity's sake!" he said. "My dad's cherished bird Pokémon… But a defeat is a defeat." He removed his hands from his face and instead took something out from his pocket. "All right. Take this official Pokémon Leage Badge. This one is the Zephyr Badge."

Zora received the Zephyr Badge from Falkner, and she put it away in her badge case with shaking hands.

"With that Badge," Falkner continued, "Pokémon, including traded Pokémon up to level twenty, will obey you without question. It also enables you to use the hidden move Rock Smash anytime outside of battle."

Furthermore, Falkner handed over a TM to Zora, and she gazed down at it. It was called TM51.

"By using a TM, a Pokémon will instantly learn a new move," Falkner explained. "Think before you act – a TM can be used only once. TM51 contains Roost. It restores half the max health. There are many Pokémon Gyms in cities and towns ahead. Make good use of them! As for your next move…"

Zora put the TM for Roost away in the TM pocket and returned to look at Falkner.

"I would suggest Azalea Town," Falkner said. "Now, goodbye, Trainer, and good luck with your Gym Challenge!"

Zora was still too shocked to say anything to the Gym Leader. She just smiled and waved at him, then turned around and walked away with Bambi right behind her.

"I can't believe we did it," Zora said as they walked through the bridge puzzle. "I really thought I would lose someone back there."

"Me too," Bambi said. "But we didn't. I'm really glad. I'm so glad you chose not to sacrifice Dummy. Thank you, Zora."

Zora felt her mouth wavering. She felt like crying, not so much out of sadness or fear or even happiness. Just because of the stress she had just suffered. But now it was over. She wouldn't have to face that kind of stress again until Azalea Town's Gym Leader, Bugsy.

"We've got a lot of training to do if we want to beat the next Gym," Zora said as they went down the elevator. "We need to train up Dingbat, and maybe Fly Boy too. And we need to get that Geodude."

They left the Gym building. As soon as they got out of the doors and they closed, Zora's Pokégear rang, startling her. It was Professor Elm. She picked it up.

"Uh, hello?" Zora greeted.

" _Hello, Zora? We've discovered something!_ "

"What is it?"

" _The details are… well, I can't really say anything, but we want you to carry that egg!_ "

Zora gazed surprised to the side at the Pokégear. "What? You're giving me the egg? But it's such a long way back to New Bark Town…"

" _My assistant is at the Poké Mart in Violet City,_ " Elm continued. " _Could you go meet him and pick up that egg?_ "

Without another word from either of them, Elm hung up. Zora sighed and put the Pokégear away.

"Well, I guess we better go pick up that egg then," she said. "We don't have room in our party though. How about we go drop off Dummy at the Pokémon Center, huh?"

"Yes!" Bambi said. "She deserves to be with Buzz Lady in safety! Let's go!"

* * *

They returned to the Pokémon Center and started by healing up the team. While they were healing, Zora checked her money card. She had over 5000 Pokédollars now. She smiled.

"We used up our last Potions in that battle," she said as Bambi and the others were returned to her. "But we have plenty of money now to afford more. Not to mention more Poké Balls."

Bambi nodded. "You can get Kale out again if you want," he said. "I'm kind of tired."

"Okay," Zora said and returned Bambi to his Poké Ball. "You deserve some rest. Come out, Kale!"

Kale got out of his Poké Ball and smiled up at Zora. "Great job, Zora!" he praised. "You beat the first Gym Leader, and even without sacrificing Dummy or anyone else! I'm so proud of you!"

Zora giggled. "I was really considering having Dummy taken out so the rest of you could live," she admitted. "But Bambi got me on different thoughts. Our team is not very strong right now, but it will be later. We just need the right team members. And Dummy is not one of them."

Zora went over to the PC and logged on. She gazed at Buzz Lady, currently the only Pokémon in the box. She put Dummy's Poké Ball into the ball slot in the machine, and it was deposited in the PC, right next to the Weedle. Having a spare slot in her party now, Zora logged off the computer and stepped away.

They left the Pokémon Center and went to the Poké Mart. They found Professor Elm's assistant – he wasn't hard to spot, as he was the only person in a white lab coat in the entire building – and walked over to him. He smiled as he saw Zora. He was holding the white egg with red and blue triangles in his arms close to his body, one under it to support its weight, the other around it to make sure it didn't fall over.

"Long time no see, Zora," the assistant greeted. "I've been waiting for you. This is from Professor Elm. The thing is… we would like you to take care of an egg!"

Zora smiled back. "Sure thing," she replied and held out her arms. "I'll take good care of it."

The assistant carefully handed over the egg, and Zora made sure to support its weight and small size, holding it close to her body. She smiled softly at the egg, remembering having only just had a Mareep egg the previous day.

"After you left, Professor Elm received a phone call," the assistant explained, though Zora did not look at him. "I have no idea what they were talking about, but after a while, Professor Elm suddenly cried out, 'I can't think of anyone more suited for that than Zora!' Then he insisted that I hand this egg to you. That's how I came here to deliver the egg to you."

"Aha," Zora replied quietly. "That's nice."

"It seems that a Pokémon will hatch from it only when you keep it in your party of Pokémon," the assistant continued, as if he didn't notice Zora wasn't paying attention. "That's another reason we've chosen you, Zora. Please take care of it!"

"I will," Zora said, finally looking up. "Now please leave us."

The assistant nodded and took his leave. Zora looked back down at the egg. She shifted her arms to hold tightly on the egg with her right hand, then opened her bag with her left one and carefully placed the egg in the largest space with both hands. Afterwards she zipped it closed and went for the shop.

Now that she had more money, Zora decided to buy eleven Poké Balls – getting a Premier Ball as a bonus for buying ten balls – as well as two Awakening, five Potions and one Super Potion. She had enough money left for one more Poké Ball and decided to buy it. Now she was broke again, but at least she had enough Poké Balls for the next few encounters… hopefully.

"I can't wait to get more money so I can buy many more of these things," Zora complained as they left the Poké Mart. "I-"

Before she could continue, as they stepped outside, what seemed to be a dance girl suddenly ran over to her, having spotted her. Zora flinched at the stranger's approach.

"Me oh my…" the dance girl remarked. "That egg must be…!"

"Uh," Zora said as the stranger stepped closer to get a better look at the egg in the bag, apparently not zipped enough to avoid the woman's sharp vision. "Well, you see…"

Zora explained to the stranger how she got a hold of this mysterious egg. After she was done, the dance girl nodded.

"I see…" she said. "So it was handed from Mr. Pokémon to Professor Elm, then from Professor Elm to you. Now I get it…"

The dance girl stepped back, giving Zora and Kale some space. "That egg is truly an important egg. Please do take good care of it for me. Is that understood?"

Zora and Kale shared a glance together, then looked back in uncertainty at the woman.

"Uh… sure?" Zora said.

The dance girl spun around one in an elegant movement. "I am counting on you," she said and walked away just like that.

"What was… that about?" Kale asked confused. "Do you know that woman?"

"No, never seen her before in my life," Zora replied. "Uh, it's getting pretty dark, and we've been battling all day. I think we'll wait with the Geodude until tomorrow. Let's go back to the Pokémon Center and rest up."

"Sure thing," Kale said.

They returned to the Pokémon Center and settled into the corner where the lounge was. The other Pokémon stayed in their Poké Balls, but Kale was out, helping Zora keep the egg warm, waiting for it to hatch.

"Did you know, Kale, that if a Trainer runs around, an egg will hatch faster?" Zora asked as they were starting to get drowsy.

"No, is that really true?" Kale replied surprised.

"Not sure, but from what I've read online, it seems to be legit. Maybe it's the increased body heat from exercising so much that causes it to hatch, I don't know. But I'm not in any mood to run around right now, so we'll just let it get here on its own time throughout the night."

"Yeah, maybe it will hatch tomorrow," Kale said. "And we'll have a new team member."

"Yeah…"

They went silent for a while, letting the sleep settle in.

"I'm really glad you chose to spare Dummy, you know?" Kale said. "You really are going to be a great Trainer."

"Maybe," Zora said. "But it was very risky not to. I have a feeling this is gonna come back to bite me later… I hope you all survive through this journey, Kale. I really do."

"Me too," Kale replied. "But let's worry about that tomorrow. For now, let's get some sleep. And hatch that egg."

With that, the two partners let their eyes stay closed and drifted off to sleep, with the egg between them, preparing to get out into the world of Pokémon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was legitimately about to send in my level 3 Rattata as death fodder, but then I decided "No, I'm not doing this! We can do this!". I was so scared, I thought I was gonna lose Dingbat... but I didn't!  
> I made some mistakes, but at least I beat the Gym and everyone survived. Couldn't ask for a better outcome.  
> Well, perhaps the best outcome would have been out-speeding and one-shotting everyone and not getting hit myself even once. But, oh well, such is life.  
> Gonna wait for a bit before getting the Geodude, but that is what's gonna happen next! I hope, at least!  
> EDIT: I also did not realize I had accidentally called Dummy "he" and "him" when Bambi was scolding Zora, I fixed it now though.  
> You have no idea how hard it is to call something of the right gender. Like a female Machoke, or a male Gardevoir...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 1  
> Live Pokémon: 7 (1 on the way!)  
> Death counter: 0


	8. Rock On

The next morning, Zora and Kale woke up and gazed at the egg. It had a crack in it, and it was moving.

"It's hatching," Kale observed. "What will it be?"

Zora held on the egg as the two sat up and settled in, watching the white egg hatching.

From the egg came… something they didn't know what was. The shell was still on the Pokémon, only the top and four holes for the arms and legs missing shell shards. It was a beige creature with tiny, beady eyes and a crown-shaped head. It shrieked with joy as it saw Zora and Kale.

"Wow, it's really cute," Kale said. "But what is it?"

"I don't know," Zora said. "I'll bring out the Pokédex… Hmm, it says it's called a 'Togepi'. Apparently they're rare in Johto. No wonder Elm didn't recognize this egg."

"What will you name him?" Kale asked.

"Hmm…" Zora thought for a moment. "Omelet?"

"Really?" Kale said judgingly. "First kale, now omelet? You have some weird names in mind."

"I've seen people name their Pokémon weirder things," Zora replied and looked back down at the Togepi. "Your name is Omelet. Welcome to the world, little guy!"

Omelet giggled. "Yay," he said. "Hi!"

Kale smiled at the little guy. "I'm Kale," he greeted. "Nice to meet you. I'm sure you'll be a great addition to our team."

Zora pat Omelet on the head. "Let's see… naive nature, that's good. Oh, and you have the Serence Grace ability, nice! Wait, what, you know Extrasensory?! You're a little powerhouse, aren't you?"

Omelet simply smiled at Zora. Zora smiled back and pulled out a Poké Ball that Elm's assistant had given her along with the egg. "Get in the ball, and you'll be an official member of the team," she said.

"Okay!" Omelet said and pressed the button on the ball.

Omelet went inside the Poké Ball, and it clicked immediately. Zora put the ball away and turned to Kale.

"Alright, now that we've slept and everyone had rested up, it's time to continue training," she said.

"What about the Geodude?" Kale asked.

"If we go for it now, there's a chance we might run into a Spearow instead. We'll just train the team for the day, and when night falls, we can finally go catch that Geodude."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kale said. "Do we train Omelet first?"

"Yes," Zora said. "Mind being the coach again?"

"Not at all," Kale replied. "Lead the way."

* * *

They left Violet City and returned to Route 31, where Zora decided they should train up the team, especially the newly hatched Omelet. Before she went into the tall grass, however, she had a change of mind.

"Actually, I think we should shift between coaches for Omelet," Zora said. "So the rest of you get more experience and bulkier as well. You're already pretty strong, Kale, so I think we should let Dingbat train with Omelet first."

"Oh, okay," Kale replied surprised. "No problem. I'll just wait until you need me."

Zora nodded and returned Kale to his Poké Ball, instead bringing out both Omelet and Dingbat from their balls. Omelet seemed excited.

"I can't wait to play!" Omelet giggled.

"So I'm guessing I'm gonna train this kid?" Dingbat asked.

"You're starting, at least," Zora replied. "At least until you learn Bite so you can actually damage the Normal-type Pokémon. After that, we'll have Fly Boy train him, until he learns Quick Attack. Maybe by then, Omelet will be strong enough to fight on his own. He's got Extrasensory and everything, after all."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Dingbat said. "Let's go train!"

Zora nodded, and they entered the tall grass. The first thing that popped out was a Bellsprout, which was exactly what Zora wanted.

"Can I play with that?" Omelet asked eagerly.

"No, you're not ready to play with anyone yet," Zora said with a smile. "Let's let Dingbat play with it, shall we?"

"Okay…" Omelet said, a bit disappointed, but nonetheless stepped back and let Dingbat forth.

"Alright, kiddo, watch- Ouch!" Dingbat exclaimed as the Bellsprout hit him with a Vine Whip. "Hey, that was rude! Let me finish talking! Alright, Omelet, let me show you how to handle these guys!"

Dingbat took out the Bellsprout with two Astonishes, making it flinch the first time. Omelet gasped in awe.

"Hey, it looks hurt!" Omelet said concerned. "Do we help it?"

"No, it will be fine on its own," Zora replied. "This sort of thing happens all the time in the wild. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay," Omelet said, though glanced at the wounded Bellsprout.

"Let's move on," Zora said. "We've got a lot of training to do while we wait for darkness to fall."

They continued wandering through the tall grass, having Dingbat train up Omelet and training himself in the progress. Dingbat ended up beating six Bellsprout, seven Weedle and one Kakuna before he finally learned Bite. Whenever a Pidgey popped up, Zora decided to switch to Fly Boy instead, as Dingbat couldn't touch Normal-types yet.

Fly Boy ended up beating five Pidgey by the time Dingbat was done with his own training. Afterwards, only Fly Boy trained with Omelet, and in the end the former beat another twelve Pidgey, five Bellsprout, nineteen Weedle and three Kakuna before he finally learned Quick Attack and thus was finished with his own training.

Afterwards, Zora finally allowed Omelet to fight on his own and by that time he had already learned Metronome, which was then replaced with Sweet Kiss, as the former move was too unpredictable to be worth keeping. His first opponent was a Pidgey, and he was very excited.

"Can I fight this one?" Omelet asked eagerly.

"Yes, you can," Zora replied. "It's time for your first solo battle. Now, use Extrasensory!"

"Yay!" Omelet cheered and used his egg move.

The Pidgey went down in one hit. Omelet bounced happily up and down.

"I did it!" he cheered. "I beat my first opponent!"

"Good job, Omelet!" Zora praised. "Now let's go find more!"

"Yay!"

After his first battle, Omelet easily one-shot another four Pidgey, twelve Weedle, four Bellsprout and three Kakuna before he was on par with the rest of the team. By that time, Zora decided they had trained enough. They returned to the Pokémon Center, the whole team, including Bushy, outside in the lounge, so they could plan out their next move.

"Alright, so obviously we need to get a Geodude in Route 46," Zora said as she brought out the Pokégear and turned on the map function. "But while the sun is about to set, it's still gonna be a while before night comes and the nocturnal Pokémon come out, and the day-time Pokémon retreat. Furthermore, in Route 32, if we also go there after dark, we have a chance of getting a Wooper."

"So what do we do until it gets dark then?" Fly Boy asked. "Just sit around and do nothing?"

"I'm kinda tired from all the fighting, to be honest," Dingbat replied. "Maybe a rest would be nice."

"That's what we're working out right now," Zora replied. "Now, there's another area west of Violet City called Route 36. Supposedly we can find the move Rock Smash there, though I'm unsure if we can get access there yet, since it seems some pretty tough Pokémon live there."

"What about this thing called Ruins of Alph?" Bushy asked. "It seems to connect to Route 32."

"Ohhh no, we're not going there yet," Zora declined. "Those Pokémon are _way_ higher level than you guys are right now. Except for the Unown, but Unown isn't really a good Pokémon. Besides, all we can find in the Ruins are Smeargle and Natu. Natu would be a nice addition, but as I said, they're too strong for us at the moment. We can probably go there after we've beat the third Gym."

"That long?" Bambi remarked. "How about the Pokémon on Route 36?"

"They should be around our level, though probably a little higher than us," Zora answered. "Probably not so much that it's dangerous for us, but I would rather start by going to see if we can acquire Rock Smash for now. We can return later to get an encounter once we've beat Bugsy. Or maybe after we get the Geodude. We could also try go now, but I just think it's pretty risky…"

"Why not just go to get that Rock Smash thing and then see what happens afterwards?" Omelet suggested. "Can't hurt to check it out."

The others fell silent for a moment in thought, particularly Zora.

"Well, we do have thirteen Poké Balls at the moment," Zora said. "And if we get Rock Smash and teach it to Bushy, we could start look for treasures in rocks."

"Wow, we can do that?" Kale said surprised. "What kind of treasures?"

"Things like gemstones, shards and something called Heart Scales," Zora replied. "There are rocks around Violet City that could hold some treasures. Maybe it would be a good idea to check out Route 36 first. Then, if we find any valuable treasures inside the rocks, we can sell them and afford even more Poké Balls, Potions and medicines. Yes, that sounds like a good plan."

"Sounds good to me too," Kale said. "Let's do it!"

Zora got up and held out her Poké Balls. "Alright everyone, get in and let's go to Route 36!"

* * *

As Zora and Kale left the Pokémon Center with the rest of the team in their Poké Balls, they headed for the west exit of Violet City. They went through the gate and entered Route 36. However, they noticed there were no patches of tall grass in the area, only a dirt road, a southern gate, two people and a strange tree blocking the west path, in the direction of Ecruteak City.

They walked over to check out the tree, which seemed to be impassable.

"Oh well, I guess that means we can't have an encounter here either way," Zora said. "Guess we better go back…"

But before they could return to the Violet City gate, a man stopped them.

"Yo," the stranger greeted. "Haven't you had trouble with a boulder blocking your way? Of course you have! For people like you, there's an HM that will come to your rescue!"

The man pulled out a disc with a sticker on it saying HM06, and handed it over to Zora. She seemed a bit confused.

"But this is…" she drawled out.

"It contains make-'em-faint Rock Smash," the stranger explained eagerly. "You can even use it to smash boulders once you've earned the Violet City Gym Badge! But beware! Hidden moves like this are hard for your Pokémon to forget once they've learned them. You should think carefully which Pokémon should learn it."

"Uh, thank mister, I really appreciate it," Zora said with a nervous smile. "Now, I'll be going. Bye."

They immediately turned around and scooted back to Violet City until they found a rock that seemed breakable. Zora pulled out the HM for Rock Smash and brought out Bushy's Poké Ball. She pushed the disc into the Poké Ball. And watched as it immediately came out again.

"Huh?" Zora said. "Wait, Bushy can't learn Rock Smash? But I'm certain that Sentret can…"

Zora paused and put the two things away, instead taking out her notes and Pokégear to check something online. Kale watched her with wonder. Zora's confused face soon turned into laughter, further confusing Kale.

"What's up?" Kale asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm so dumb," Zora said. "Sentret can only learn Cut, Surf and Whirlpool, but its evolution, Furret, can also learn Strength and Rock Smash. Now I understand."

After the laughter died, Zora instead groaned in frustration.

"Well, guess now I know what we'll be doing until nightfall," Zora said. "We're gonna have to train up Bushy until she evolves."

"Ooh, that sounds interesting," Kale said. "But when will she evolve?"

"At level fifteen, it seems," Zora replied. "And she's currently only level three. And the rest of you guys are only level thirteen. This might take a while…"

"Hey, can't Omelet learn Rock Smash?" Kale asked. "Doesn't it say that right here in your notes?"

"Yeah, he can," Zora replied. "But remember what that guy who gave us this said? Pokémon can't forget HMs so easily, and Rock Smash isn't the best Fighting-type move to use in battle. Omelet can have a really good move-set once he grows stronger, so I don't want to waste one of his move slots with an HM."

"So that's why we're keeping Bushy around," Kale concluded and gave Zora a skeptical look. "You're going to use her as an HM slave, aren't you?"

"Uh… yeah," Zora replied. "But hey, at least she's making herself useful and helps us throughout our journey! And best of all, she doesn't have to die at all, because we won't use her in battle once she's evolved! She'll be out of danger! Isn't that better than exposing her to danger like Dummy almost was?"

Kale went silent for a moment in thought. "I… suppose so," he replied after a while. "I guess it's not too bad."

Zora got back on her feet and put her notes and Pokégear away. "Well, if everything's understood, let's go train her up. Are you willing to coach her until she's strong enough on her own to receive more experience?"

"Sure, why not," Kale said. "Didn't do it last time, after all."

* * *

As such, Bushy was brought out alongside Kale, and they returned to Route 31 to train up. As promised, Kale stepped forth to take care of any wild Pokémon that popped out in front of Zora and Bushy.

However, after having taken out only one Pidgey and a Kakuna, Zora realized Kale wasn't an efficient enough coach in this place, especially with the Kakuna they occasionally met. So instead, Zora called Kale back and let Omelet take care of the wild encounters, being able to one-shot them with Extrasensory and not taking a lot of damage himself.

By the time Bushy seemed strong enough to fight the wild Pokémon on her own, having learned Quick Attack, Omelet had taken out five Pidgey, six Weedle, three Bellsprout and three Kakuna, getting some extra experience himself.

They returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up before going back out. Once they got back to Route 31, darkness had fallen, and the Pidgey, Weedle and Kakuna had retreated for the night. Instead, Rattata and Hoothoot had begun coming out, along with all the other nocturnal Pokémon.

Zora and Bushy ran into a Rattata in the tall grass, confirming night had arrived. Bushy managed to take it out with two Quick Attacks but got quite injured herself in the progress. However, now Zora had different plans than train up Bushy to evolve.

"It's time," Zora said and returned Bushy to her Poké Ball, instead bringing out Kale. "We're getting our Geodude right now."

"We're doing it?" Kale said. "We're really doing it now?"

"Yes, we're going to get a Geodude. At long last. Let's get to Route 46."

* * *

They wandered over to the gate leading to Route 46, avoiding all encounters on the way. Getting a bit lost since it had been a while since they were there, they ended up finding a Potion on the ground. They eventually found the right way and arrived at the gate to Route 46.

As they entered the route, Zora double-checked to see how many Poké Balls they had. Thirteen normal Poké Balls and one Premier Ball. That should be enough, she assumed. She brought out Bambi as well.

"Alright Kale," Zora said, feeling a bit nervous. "This is it. We're getting a Geodude. Now, remember our strategy. You poison it, and then you and Bambi run back and forth to stall it as its health goes down."

"Why Bambi specifically?" Kale asked.

"If the Geodude lands a hit on him, it might get paralyzed," Zora explained. "Because of his Static ability, and that will swap out the poison status condition it has. It will make it easier to catch."

"Oh, okay then," Kale replied. "You ready to do this, Bambi?"

"I'm all set!" Bambi replied with determination. "Let's go!"

Zora looked from her team members to the tall grass. She took a deep breath and exhaled, then entered the grass.

They immediately ran into a Geodude. And it was a female. Perfect.

"Okay, Kale, use PoisonPowder!" Zora ordered, her fist shaking.

Kale did as told and poisoned the Geodude. It used Defense Curl to boost its physical defense, but that didn't stop the poison from starting to deal damage on it.

"Alright, Bambi, Kale, time to stall it!" Zora said. "Go!"

Bambi went forward, and the Geodude boosted its defense again. Kale went forward, the Geodude used Defense Curl again. Then Bambi went forth, then Kale, then Bambi again. Now the Geodude used Tackle, but it didn't do much damage to Bambi, and it was still poisoned, though not hurt enough for Zora to be comfortable enough to try catch it.

"Okay, change of plans," Zora said while Bambi was still facing the Geodude. "Bambi, use Growl! If you stay out, it increases the chance of the Geodude hitting you with Tackle and getting paralyzed!"

"Okay, I get it!" Bambi said and growled at the Geodude, making it uncomfortable.

The Geodude tackled Bambi again, and the poison continued to hurt it. Bambi growled more, followed by another three Tackles from the Geodude. Zora decided it was enough.

"Okay, it seems weakened enough now for me to try for a ball," Zora said. "Go!"

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Geodude, and they watched the rock Pokémon get materialized into it. It had been a while since last they caught something.

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… and clicked. The Geodude was caught.

"Yes!" Zora exclaimed and threw her arms in the air. "We did it! We finally caught a Geodude! And it's even a female! This will make the third Gym so easy!"

Zora walked over and picked up the Poké Ball containing her newly caught Geodude. She turned to Bambi and Kale with a large smile on her face.

"Great job, you two!" Zora praised. "I couldn't have asked for a better team. Let's get back to Cherrygrove City and pick up our new friend."

"Yeah!" Kale and Bambi shouted in unison.

* * *

They returned to Cherrygrove City, running from every other wild encounter on their way, and went directly to the Pokémon Center. After healing up the team, Zora went to the PC and opened her box, took out the Geodude and put her in Bushy's spot on the team. Now Bushy was in the PC with Dummy and Buzz Lady.

Zora logged off and brought out the new Geodude from her Poké Ball, along with all the other Pokémon on the team.

"Hi," Bambi greeted their new friend. "I'm Bambi, nice to meet you!"

"My name is Kale," Kale greeted. "Looking forward to travel with you, uh… Hey, Zora, did you give her a name?"

"Oh, right, I guess I forgot to tell you," Zora said and facepalmed. "I've decided to name her Crisper."

"Crisper?" Kale repeated in confusion. "Your nicknames are getting weirder and weirder."

"Well, I think rocks are kind of crispy, and this name is kind of like Casper, just… Crisper." Zora smiled widely and blushed. "I just came up with the name and liked it, so her name is Crisper."

Crisper looked at Zora and around at everyone else. "Well, I guess I'm Crisper then," she said. "Nice to meet you, everyone! Anything I can smash?"

"Oh yeah!" Zora said. "Now we have someone to use Rock Smash on!"

Zora immediately pulled out the HM for Rock Smash, as well as Crisper's Poké Ball. The surrounding Pokémon watched as Zora slid the disc into the empty Poké Ball. A small light appeared from within the ball, and a few seconds later, the disc slid back out.

"Alright, hold on a moment," Zora said and put the HM away, followed by her pointing the Poké Ball at Crisper. "Return."

Crisper returned into her Poké Ball. Zora waited a few seconds, then sent her outside her Poké Ball again.

"Oh, neat," Crisper said. "I just learned a new move. It's called, Rock Smash, I think?"

"Yes," Zora said. "It's a handy HM to have on the team, and while it's not the most powerful Fighting-type move, it's still pretty strong and becomes stronger the more times it's used against the same opponent. It will be quite handy against Whitney in Goldenrod City."

"And we can look for treasures!" Omelet added cheerfully. "I can't wait to find stuff in rocks!"

Zora smiled at her team. "Yes, with Crisper and Rock Smash, we should have our journey under control now. Of course… we'll have to train Crisper up to meet the same level as everyone else… but we can wait with that until tomorrow."

"That reminds me," Kale said. "You said something about a Wooper?"

"Oh yes," Zora said. "We should try to get one while it's still dark. No better time than the present. And we still have thirteen Poké Balls in total. Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

Everyone but Kale returned to their Poké Balls. They left Cherrygrove City and headed back to Violet City, running from any wild Pokémon they met on the way. They went through the city until they arrived at the south exit. They plucked a yellow Apricorn on the way before entering Route 32. Zora took a deep breath.

"Alright, we have a chance of encountering a Wooper in the grass," Zora said, "since it's nighttime and cooler, so they come out of the water. But there's also a chance we could run into an Ekans or a Bellsprout instead. Let's cross our fingers, guys!"

Zora and Kale stood in front of the tall grass, taking a moment before stepping in. They walked around, and suddenly something jumped out at them…

It was an Ekans. Zora facepalmed.

"No!" Zora exclaimed. "Oh well, I guess we'll get another chance to get it. At least we can get the Ekans encounter out of the way."

"Uh, so, what do we do now?" Kale asked.

Zora thought for a moment. "Uh… try poison it?" she suggested.

Kale tried using PoisonPowder on the Ekans, but it was unaffected. The Ekans leered amused at Kale. Kale squinted at Zora in judgment.

"Yeah, okay, I wasn't sure if Poison-types could be poisoned," Zora said. "Now we know, let's move on! Okay, uh, Bambi, get out here!"

Kale stepped back, and Bambi got out of his Poké Ball. The Ekans leered at him, making Bambi uncomfortable.

"What do you want me to do?" Bambi asked, seemingly disappointed as well that it wasn't a Wooper.

"Just growl at it," Zora said, equally disappointed. "It might hit you and get paralyzed. I'll try throw a ball at it in a moment."

Bambi growled at the Ekans. The Ekans hissed and started wrapping itself around Bambi. Bambi was surprised by the act and started twisting in the snake's tight embrace.

"Help!" Bambi cried out. "Let me go!"

"Dang," Zora said. "Hey, Bambi! Don't worry about Wrap! Your wool protects you from any serious damage, right?"

Bambi focused on the feel of the grip. "You're right, it doesn't feel… _too_ bad… but I still don't like this!"

"Just keep growling at it!"

"Oh I'm gonna growl!"

Bambi growled angrily at the Ekans, which stung him with the barb on its tail, using Poison Sting, at the same time with continuing its squeeze on the poor Mareep.

"Let me Thundershock it!" Bambi cried.

"No, we have to catch it!" Zora said. "It's the rules!"

"I hate those rules!"

Regardless, Bambi continued growling at the Ekans, which only stung him again, clenching harder.

"Just throw a ball already!" Bambi cried.

"Okay, okay!" Zora replied and pulled out a ball. "It doesn't seem to be getting paralyzed anyway."

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Ekans, and it immediately released the grip around Bambi, who fell together and ran back over to Zora. They watched as the ball shook three times and then clicked for capture.

"So, it seems we have an Ekans now," Zora said and picked up the ball. "Another female. What's up with me and getting all these female Pokémon anyway? Okay, a name… uh, let's just call her Banana."

Kale and Bambi seemed ready to just throw themselves on the ground.

"Maybe we should just stop asking and get used to it," Kale said.

"Yeah, I'm too tired to ask," Bambi said.

"There are not enough letters for Bananaconda, so I just went with Banana," Zora explained as they left the tall grass.

"We're not asking!" Kale and Bambi said in chorus.

Zora sighed. "Well, that was disappointing," she said. "I really wanted a Wooper on the team. I guess we can always go to Ruins of Alph or somewhere else and surf to find one, once we get the HM for Surf. Or we can find it in the grass in another location. Oh well. I guess we're keeping Fly Boy on the team for now."

"Wait, you were planning to put Fly Boy in the box?" Bambi asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"Well, having two Flying-type Pokémon on the team, as well as two Normal-types, kind of ruins the balance. Currently we have a Grass-type, a Flying- and Poison-type, an Electric-type, a Rock- and Ground-type, a Normal-type and of course Fly Boy who's a Normal- and Flying-type. We need a Water-type on our team, and if we get a Wooper, it will also be a Ground-type and immune to electricity, which would be very helpful. We might also need a Fire-type… like a Vulpix. But, that time, that joy."

Silence fell between them for a moment.

"So now what?" Kale asked. "It's so dark, I can barely see anything. We're not travelling to Azalea Town in this darkness, are we?"

"No, we're not," Zora confirmed. "We'll return to the Pokémon Center and get a good night's sleep. Since we don't have any more immediate encounters at night nor around this area, we might as well get on with our journey. We'll train Crisper in Route 32, on our way to Azalea Town. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Kale and Bambi said at the same time. "Let's do it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I got a female Geodude! :D  
> Aw, I didn't get a Wooper. :(  
> I got an Ekans. :/  
> Argh, tried naming it Bananaconda, but there was one too many letters in it, and I didn't like Banaconda, so it just became Banana... not like I'm gonna use her anyway. :,D  
> I hope I get a Vulpix later... BTW, have you ever thought about/realized just how rare Fire-type Pokémon are, especially in each game??? In Sinnoh there's, like, TWO or THREE available, depending on whether you're playing DP or Pt! Slugma, a Johto Pokémon, isn't even found in Johto, only in Kanto! WHAT?!  
> Also, Geodude can learn Flamethrower??? WHAT!  
> I'll be fine. Just a bit disappointed I didn't get a Wooper. I'll get another Water-type. :)  
> And yes, I named my Togepi Omelet, because I thought it was funny and fitting... for the baby, at least, but whatever. Can't change it now! :)
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 1  
> Live Pokémon: 10  
> Death counter: 0


	9. Moving On

When Zora and the team woke up the next morning, she decided to try some treasure hunting in Violet City by using Crisper's Rock Smash against the rocks found there. The first rock they broke had nothing in it, though they did gain access to a hidden path with a Hyper Potion lying on the ground, so it wasn't a total waste.

The next rock they broke had a Yellow Shard inside, the first treasure they found. But not what they were looking for.

"We're broke," Zora said. "We need to find a Star Piece if we are to get any more stuff right now, before moving on."

The next rock they broke had a Revive inside. Zora groaned. "This is literally useless!" she exclaimed. "Though I guess we can sell it later at some point. Let's keep going."

They continued breaking rocks, ending up breaking a total of seventeen rocks before they finally found a Star Piece. Zora squealed with joy at the sight of the small red gem in the shape of a four-spiked star.

"We're gonna be rich now!" Zora said excitedly and showed the gem to her team members, who gazed at it in awe. "Until we buy stuff and get broke again, I mean."

"So pretty…" Omelet said with gleaming eyes. "We can't keep it?"

"We could, but it's better to sell it," Zora said. "But maybe some time after we've beat the League, we can find another and keep it. I'll let you have it then, Omelet."

"Really?" Omelet shrieked with joy. "I can't wait!"

Other than the Star Piece, the team had found two Yellow Shards, a Green Shard, two Revives and two Heart Scales. The other nine rocks broken had nothing in them. Still, Zora was surprised how fast they found a Star Piece, considering how rare they were.

They went to the Poké Mart and sold the Star Piece and Revives to get more money. Before selling, they only had 24 Pokédollars left, but after selling the three items, they had a total of 6424 Pokédollars! Zora was a bit surprised the Star Piece didn't sell for more, remembering it as usually selling for twice the amount, but she supposed she had seen people sell two gems at a time and forgot its actual price.

Despite this, they still got a good amount of money and could now buy two Repels, an Antidote, a Burn Heal, four Potions, two Super Potions and ten more Poké Balls, along with a bonus Premier Ball. She decided to buy one more Super Potion, and then they were broke again.

"Now we have enough supplies for our next trip," Zora said as they left the Poké Mart. "We'll get more money as we battle new Trainers and break more rocks on the way. We'll train Crisper throughout Route 32 and until we reach Union Cave. There, we can get an Onix."

"What do we need that for?" Kale asked curiously.

"Nothing, really, just to get the encounter out of the way, both the Pokémon itself and the area," Zora admitted. "The only other Pokémon we can get in there are Wooper, Magikarp and Goldeen, and those require either Surf or a fishing rod, neither of which we have. Onix is the only Pokémon we haven't caught yet which we can encounter on land in the cave."

"Well, alright," Kale replied. "Anything else we should know before going?"

"Well, yes, after we get out of the Union Cave, we'll arrive in Route 33, where we can encounter either a Hoppip or a Spearow. Again, we'll only catch either of them to get their encounters out of the way, as Hoppip is weak and we've already got a bird on the team, so we don't need Spearow."

Kale sighed. The next few encounters didn't seem to be all that exciting.

"But after _that_ ," Zora continued with a smile, "we'll arrive in Azalea Town, where we can go to Slowpoke Well and get a Slowpoke!"

"And you'll explain why we want a Slowpoke?"

"Both because the only other Pokémon we can get there is Zubat," Zora explained, "but also because Slowpoke is a Water- and Psychic-type Pokémon, and it can learn Surf as well as Headbutt. Headbutt will come in handy when the only new encounters we'll have in an area will be Pokémon only found in trees."

"Oh, that does sound useful," Kale commented. "And then we'll be fighting in the Azalea Gym?"

"Exactly," Zora said. "After we get the new encounters out of the way, we'll train up the team until we're strong enough to take on Bugsy. He has a really strong Scyther, so after we beat the Gym Trainers, if Fly Boy, Dingbat and Crisper aren't the same level as Bugsy's ace, we'll return to Route 33 and train until they are."

"Sounds like a plan," Kale said. "By the way, when will _I_ get to fight in a Gym?"

"Um…" Zora brought out her notes, checking the Gym Leaders and Gym Trainers of the next Gyms. "You can probably help with the fifth and sixth Gym, maybe also the third, but other than that, there aren't actually any Gyms with Pokémon weak to Grass…"

Kale seemed a bit disappointed by the news, but soon put on a smile again. "Well, that's fine," he said. "I'll help in any way I can. Better we all survive than everyone getting a chance to fight in the Gym and accidentally get killed, right?"

"Right," Zora said. "Well, I think we've stayed in Violet City and the surrounding area long enough. It's time to move on to the next place. Let's go."

* * *

They left Violet City, though before they could get very far through Route 32, a man stopped them.

"Wait up!" he said. "What's the hurry?"

Zora turned and looked stumped at him. "Uh, I'm kind of on the way to Azalea Town…?" she drawled out quietly.

The man looked down at Crisper, who Zora had brought out to get some experience on the trip. "You have some good Pokémon there," the man commented. "It must be from the training you gave them around Violet City. The training at the Gym must have been especially helpful."

Zora and Crisper glanced at each other. "I haven't even trained her yet…"

"As a souvenir of Violet City, take this," the man said and pulled something out. "It increases the power of Grass-type moves."

The man handed over a Miracle Seed to Zora, which she stared at for a moment before putting it away.

"Uh… thanks?" Zora said. "I'll be going now…"

They left the man and instead started Crisper's training in the tall grass. The other team members fought her battles for her though, as she was still pretty weak. It was mostly Dingbat and Omelet that fought by Crisper's side, since Dingbat needed training for the upcoming Gym too, and Omelet was just a little powerhouse with Extrasensory. Zora never knew a Pokémon wearing an eggshell could be so bulky.

Dingbat defeated a Hoppip by biting it twice, followed by the team running into a battle-hungry youngster. Dingbat was sent out and took care of his Rattata with a Bite and Leech Life. Afterwards Youngster Albert sent out a Zubat, for which Zora sent out Bambi to Thundershock in one hit to take it out. Crisper grew stronger from the battle and learned Mud Sport.

Afterwards they ran into an Ekans in the grass, which they sent Omelet out to take care of with Extrasensory. They continued walking through the grass and found a Repel on the ground, after which another Ekans jumped out at them. Omelet took it out in one hit with Extrasensory as well.

They got out of the grass and ran into a camper girl who wanted to fight, so they fought her. She had a female Nidoran, so Zora sent out Omelet to take care of it. After the Nidoran scratched Omelet without much damage, he took it out with a single Extrasensory. Nidoran was Camper Liz' only Pokémon, so she was beat after that.

After declining Liz' offer to exchange phone numbers, Zora moved on along the dirt road until a flight of stairs appeared. Below, by some water, was a patch of grass leading to somewhere, so she decided to check it out. They go through the grass without encountering anything, and found themselves on a dock with several fishermen fishing for Pokémon.

For the sake of training, Zora decided to challenge the fishermen to a battle, starting with one called Henry, who had two Poliwag. Zora sent out Bambi, but the Poliwag immediately used Hypnosis and put Bambi to sleep. Zora swore but stayed calm, as she knew the Poliwag's only damaging move was Bubble, so Bambi should be fine.

Instead, Zora called Bambi's name to wake him up. The Poliwag used Water Sport and Bubble, which did almost nothing, as predicted, but Bambi was still fast asleep. Zora didn't want to use her Awakenings yet, since the opponent wasn't dangerous, so she just kept calling Bambi's name as the Poliwag used another two Bubbles on him. Bambi sure was hard to wake up.

After another Bubble, Bambi finally woke up and took out the Poliwag with a single Thundershock. Crisper grew stronger and learned Rock Polish, which Zora replaced Mud Sport with, as it was useless on Geodude, already being a Ground-type and thus immune to Electric moves.

As the other Poliwag came out and Crisper had come forth to get the experience, Zora sent Bambi forth again to fight the Poliwag. This time, Poliwag's Hypnosis missed, meaning Bambi's first Thundershock took it out, after it had pointlessly blown a Bubble at him. With the two Poliwag down, Fisherman Henry was beaten, and Zora got her prize money.

Zora faced the second fisherman, named Justin, who only had four Magikarp, none of them knowing anything useful, so Zora decided to try having Crisper fight the fish on her own, using Rock Smash. The first Magikarp simply splashed around, so Crisper had no problem taking it out in two hits. The second Magikarp also just splashed around and was taken out with ease.

The third Magikarp seemed to be three times stronger than the others, but its Tackles practically didn't do anything to Crisper. Crisper continued using Rock Smash, lowing the Magikarp's defense, while it either splashed or tackled in vain, and with five times Rock Smash, the 'strong' Magikarp was defeated. Justin sent out his Magikarp, just as weak as the first two and taken out with two Rock Smashes from Crisper while it just splashed around. Fisherman Justin was defeated, and Zora got her prize money.

Now there was one fisherman left, called Ralph. He had only a Goldeen with Peck and Supersonic for damaging moves, so Zora decided to also let Crisper fight this one. The Goldeen used Tail Whip while Crisper used Rock Smash, not doing much damage against it. The Goldeen pecked Crisper, which also didn't do much, and Crisper proceeded with another Rock Smash. The Goldeen then confused Crisper with Supersonic, and she ended up punching herself in the face.

Zora decided to switch tactics and sent out Bambi instead, even though he was getting low on health. Goldeen went for another Tail Whip and Peck, which didn't do much, followed by Bambi taking it out with a Thundershock. Fisherman Ralph was defeated, and Zora got her prize money.

Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with Ralph, and moved on. She saw the dock ended at land, suggesting this was where they were supposed to go. Zora then decided to return to the patch of grass by the stairs, running into a Rattata, which Crisper took out with one Rock Smash, and then they got up the stairs to the dirt road.

They walked under the bridge and through some more tall grass, until they ran into another camper that wanted to fight. He had a male Nidoran, for which Zora once again brought out Omelet to take out, but just as she had brought him out, the Nidoran used Double Kick and did a lot of damage to Omelet.

"No, no, no!" Zora exclaimed. "I forgot to check its move-set! Okay, uh… Fly Boy, you go instead!"

Zora immediately returned Omelet to his Poké Ball and sent out Fly Boy instead. Thanks to his Flying-type, he only took half the damage Omelet had, and with a Gust the Nidoran was taken down to half health. So was Fly Boy, however, and Zora was concerned. She had just checked the Nidoran's move-set and knew now it also had Peck, which could potentially do some damage against Kale, and she didn't want to risk him getting killed.

Instead, Zora decided to use a Potion on Fly Boy, getting him back to full health, just as the Nidoran decided to Peck him instead. Fly Boy took advantage of this and used another Gust against the purple thing, almost knocking it out. After another Peck by Nidoran, Fly Boy simply used Tackle and took it out. Youngster Roland was beat, and Zora got her prize money… and a racing heart.

"Omelet, I'm so sorry," Zora apologized to the Togepi after the battle was over. "I forgot to check its moves. If it wasn't because you're so tanky and a few levels higher, you could have been killed!"

"I was so scared…" Omelet whispered. "Please, always check your notes before sending me or anyone else in!"

"Don't worry, I will," Zora replied and looked at her team, all but Kale being wounded. She sighed. "I guess I can heal up Crisper, Omelet and Bambi, they're hurt the most."

She did that, having only six Potions left now, and they moved on. She spotted an item in the tall grass ahead, and she ran over to get it when a Hoppip jumped out at them. Zora decided to let Crisper fight, as the Hoppip only knew Splash and Synthesis, neither being damaging moves, completely useless. Crisper used a Tackle, then it used Synthesis and brought itself back to full health. Crisper used another two Tackles, and the Hoppip simply splashed around… in the grass. Crisper used another Tackle and took it out.

"Good job, Crisper," Zora praised.

"Thanks," Crisper replied. "Hey, can I learn Rock Throw now?"

"Oh yes, sure thing," Zora replied. "Let's see… we'll get rid of Tackle, it's weak anyway."

"Thanks, Zora!" Crisper said happily and learned Rock Throw.

After that was done, Zora found the item in the grass to be a Great Ball. That would be useful later. They continued running in the grass and encountered a Bellsprout, at which Zora decided to bring out Omelet again. He took it out with a single Extrasensory, and they got out of the tall grass.

They walked through another patch of tall grass to get an item, but first Crisper had to take out another Hoppip by throwing a rock at it. The item they found was the TM for Bullet Seed.

"Sweet!" Zora said as she put the TM away. "This might come in handy later."

* * *

They encountered another Ekans in the grass, which Omelet was sent out to Extrasensory to unconsciousness. They got out of the grass, moved down the stairs and encountered yet another two Ekans in the next patch of grass, both taken out by Omelet. They got out of the grass but was encountered by a youngster named Gordon, who had a Wooper. Zora checked her notes this time before acting, and learned this one had Water Gun and Mud Shot, so she decided to send in Kale for once.

Kale took out the Wooper with a single Razor Leaf, as it was twice as weak to Grass, being a Water- and Ground-type Pokémon. Youngster Gordon was beat, and Zora took his money and left. She walked around the trees and found herself back at the dock where she beat the fishermen. As such, she turned around and walked south, moving on.

At the end of the dirt road stood a Pokémon Center, highly convenient for the tired Pokémon and Trainer. Before they got to the Center, however, a man stopped them.

"How would you like to have this tasty, nutritious SlowpokeTail?" the man offered. "For you right now, just one million Pokédollars! You'll want this!"

Zora looked stumped at the man, looked at Crisper, just as stumped, then back at him. "Uh… no?" she replied.

The man seemed astonished she didn't want it. "You don't want it? Then scram. Shoo!"

Zora and Crisper quickly moved on, going inside the Pokémon Center and got the team healed up. While in the Center, Zora eyed a fisherman that stood with several fishing rods on his back, and walked over to him.

"Hello," Zora greeted the fisherman, who smiled and nodded back. "You have a lot of fishing rods, I see."

The fisherman nodded. "This area is great for fishing," he replied. "Looking at all those people fishing, did you feel like you wanted to try fishing, too?"

"Yeah, kind of," Zora said.

"Would you like one of my Rods?" the fisherman offered.

"Yes please," Zora said with a smile.

The fisherman handed over one of the Old Rods that he had on his back, and Zora accepted it. He then explained how to fish, which Zora didn't really listen to as she already knew how it worked. She left him be and went over to another man that stood by the wall, and greeted him.

"Bonjour," the man greeted. "How are you? Are you picking Apricorns?"

"Yes," Zora replied.

"Way to go, little Apricorn collector! I feel so great, I want to give you this!"

The stranger handed over two Lure Balls to Zora, who accepted them and put them in the Poké Ball pocket in her bag.

"Lure Ball!" the man said. "This Poké Ball makes it easy to catch the Pokémon that appear when you go fishing! Actually, this is made from Apricorns. Consider those two as small gifts from me. If you want more, go to Azalea Town. A man named Kurt can make special Poké Balls out of Apricorns. Apricorns rule!"

Zora smiled and nodded. "Thank you, mister," she said. "I'll be sure to pluck as many Apricorns as I can! Bye!"

Zora left the Apricorn-loving guy alone and left the Pokémon Center with Crisper right behind her. Crisper was getting stronger and close to being on par with the rest of the team. They would have to train a lot before entering the second Gym, but they were still a good distance from Azalea Town, so Zora wasn't too worried.

As they walked down the next dirt road, they ended up battling Bird Keeper Peter who had two Pidgey and a Spearow, all of which were taken out by Crisper with one Rock Throw each. Afterwards they found a rock blocking a small path with an item at the end, so Crisper used Rock Smash and smashed the rock. The item they found in the path was a Shell Bell.

"Nice," Zora said while holding the bell. "Maybe you should hold it, Crisper, it could be useful."

"How am I supposed to hold it?" Crisper asked. "I don't have a neck, and I need my hands free."

"Hmm, good point," Zora said and thought for a bit. "Maybe it can go on your finger like a ring?"

"Oh, that sounds need, let's do that."

Zora put the Shell Bell's ring part onto one of Crisper's fingers, not being too tight or too loose, fitting perfectly. Having taken care of that, they left the hidden path and went over to the cave mouth of Union Cave. Before they entered, Zora returned Crisper to her Poké Ball, instead sending out Kale.

"Hey, what's up?" Kale greeted.

"We're at Union Cave now," Zora informed. "In here, we will get an Onix. Maybe. Now, here's the plan: Onix seems to have a lower catch rate than all the other Pokémon we've caught so far. Much lower. I believe even with our usual poison-and-stall strategy, it might not get caught. And if it stays poisoned, it could faint, rendering me unable to catch it."

"Why is that, exactly?" Kale asked in wonder. "Why can't you just catch it when it's fainted? I mean, wouldn't it be easier to catch if it can't fight back?"

"I've been wondering that myself for quite a while," Zora replied. "But while I was researching for our journey, I came across an article saying that the reason why is because Poké Balls need to establish a link between itself and the Pokémon's mind. As such, the Pokémon needs to be conscious or asleep at most. If it's fainted, the brainwave activity is so low, the Poké Ball can't register it, and thus it won't work."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense, now that I think about it," Kale said. "I think…"

"Anyway, so instead of poisoning the Onix, you're just going to have to Tackle it until its health is low enough that I can try catching it," Zora continued. "It will take a while, but it's the safest way."

"Any moves I should be worried about?" Kale asked.

"No, at most it will have Tackle and Bind, which shouldn't be too bad, since Onix has terrible offensive power. The only thing we have to worry about is keeping it alive."

"Well, if that's all, let's get on with it," Kale said. "And I guess if we run into anything else, we run away from it, right?"

"Exactly," Zora said. "Let's do this."

* * *

They entered the Union Cave and wandered around. They found an X Attack on the ground, after which they just ran around, trying to find an Onix. They ran away from one Geodude and a Rattata before they ran into an Onix.

"Alright, remember what I said," Zora said. "Just Tackle it. If you get too injured, I'll heal you up. Just don't knock it out."

"I'll try not to," Kale said and Tackled the Onix, barely doing any damage.

The Onix landed a Tackle of its own, but it also did not do much damage, even with a critical hit. Kale continued chipping away at it, and it did not make things easier when the Onix started hardening itself to take even less damage. The Onix screeched and hardened to make things even harder for Kale, who was starting to get annoyed with the big rock snake.

Zora decided to send out Bambi as well, as Kale was getting a bit injured, and Bambi went on with the Tackle strategy. The Onix started binding itself around Bambi, but Bambi continued attacking it. As the Onix went for another attack itself, it got paralyzed by Bambi's Static ability. Bambi went for another Tackle and almost knocked the Onix out.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Zora exclaimed, worried about the extra damage Bambi had caused with his critical hit. "I'll throw a ball at it!"

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the paralyzed, near-unconscious Onix. It shook two times before breaking free. The Onix injured Bambi a bit more, after which Zora got another Poké Ball out. This time, it shook three times and clicked for capture.

"Excellent," Zora said and picked up the ball, contemplating a name. "Another female? Maybe that's just how it is. Uh… Rockette."

Zora and the others watched as the ball materialized itself away to the PC at the Pokémon Center. Then they moved on, having gotten the encounter out of the way. She healed up Kale and Bambi, having two Potions left, before deciding to explore the cave a bit, looking for items and fighting the Trainers training there, again with Crisper out front to get more experience.

They started fighting a Hiker named Daniel with an Onix, which Kale took out with Razor Leaf. The fight got Crisper on par with the rest of the team at last, though Zora decided to keep her out front a bit longer. They moved on to another Hiker, named Russel, who had three weak Geodude. Crisper took care of them all with Rock Smash. Then they ran into a firebreather named Bill who had two Koffing, which Zora decided to let Omelet take care of. Despite getting poisoned in the process, Omelet took care of both Koffing without any other problem.

After the fight was over, Zora cured the poison with an Antidote, and they found another Great Ball on the cave floor. They ran around the cave tunnels, and Crisper took out two Geodude, two Rattata and a Zubat that ambushed them, before running into another firebreather that had a Vulpix. Zora sighed at the little six-tailed fox, but nonetheless had Crisper take it out with one Rock Throw. After the fight, Crisper learned Magnitude, which Zora decided to replace Rock Polish with.

They moved on down to the lower floor of the cave, this time with Kale out to train, and they explored to find items. Kale took out a Geodude before they picked up the TM for Rock Tomb, then he took out a Rattata and a Zubat before they picked up an X Defend. Finding nothing else on the floor except water, they decided to return to the upper floor, going the right way to Route 33.

After Kale defeated another two Rattata, three Zubat and a Geodude, and Zora picked up a Potion on the floor, using it to heal Kale against hitting himself in the face by being confused by one of the Zubat, the team ran into a Poké Maniac named Larry. He had a Slowpoke, which Kale took care of with Razor Leaf.

After finding an Awakening on the ground, the team finally left Union Cave and arrived in Route 33. It was raining, so Zora and Kale remained by the cave mouth a bit longer.

"Alright, let's see," Zora said and brought out her notes. "Hoppip or Spearow. Either of those will be our encounter here. Both are easy catches, so we can probably use our poison strategy here. Let's get on with it."

They entered the tall grass and ran into a Rattata, which they ran away from. The next Pokémon they ran into was a Hoppip.

"Alright, use PoisonPowder," Zora said without much enthusiasm.

Kale poisoned the Hoppip, and Zora brought out Bambi so they could start the stalling part of their catching strategy. Unfortunately, the Hoppip used Synthesis and regained the health it had lost. Zora groaned.

"Okay, never mind, I'll just try to catch it," Zora said. "It should be weakened enough with the status condition."

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Hoppip. The ball shook once… twice… then broke out and used Synthesis to heal its new damage from the poison. Zora sighed and threw another Poké Ball. This time it shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Hoppip Dandy, like dandelion. The ball materialized away to the PC in the Pokémon Center.

They moved on, fighting a hiker on the way named Anthony, who had a Geodude and a Machop. The Geodude was taken care of by Kale, and Fly Boy got to take out the Machop. Hiker Anthony was beat, and Zora was given some prize money.

"Alright, let's move on," Zora said and declined exchanging phone numbers with Anthony, then stopped up. "Wait, Kale?"

Kale was starting to glow white, and he stood speechlessly and gazed down at himself and up at Zora. He smiled. In the next second, his entire body turned white, and he steadily began growing.

"Oh my gosh," Zora said with a huge smile.

Kale grew to about twice his original height, and the bright light disappeared from his body. Kale was now no longer a Chikorita, instead having evolved into a Bayleef.

Zora cheered and threw her arms in the air. "Kale! You evolved!" Zora exclaimed and hugged Kale. "You're a Bayleef now! Awesome!"

Kale looked down at himself with a big smile. "Hey, this is pretty cool," he said. "I feel stronger than before! I can't wait to try this new body out!"

Zora smiled at Kale. "Let's get to Azalea Town, buddy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, my Starter evolved! :D  
> Not sure if these chapters are too short, they might be fine. This story might end up having a lot of chapters in the end, but at least they're short ones.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 1  
> Live Pokémon: 12  
> Death counter: 0


	10. The Second Gym

Zora and Kale wandered into Azalea Town, and the rain seemed to stop, the rainclouds only pouring over Route 33, it seemed. They walked up between a pair of ledges and stopped as they saw two figures up ahead. A man stood facing a sketchy guy wearing a black uniform.

"Who are you?" the sketchy guy asked, almost as if repeating a question. "You don't know us? We are… Team Rocket!"

"Didn't you break up a while ago?" the man asked skeptically.

"…What?" the Team Rocket grunt said. "We broke up a while ago? Give me a break! We have not broken up! Actually we did once. But we have come back to pursue Giovanni's ambition. Enough talking. Shut up and just beat it!"

The Team Rocket grunt shoved the man away. The man looked intimidated at the grunt, turned and ran off into the town. The grunt walked over to the path leading to the Slowpoke Well. Zora hummed and shared glances with Kale.

"This seems sketchy," Zora said. "Let's check it out, Kale."

They walked over to the Rocket grunt.

"Hey, what's going on?" Zora asked innocently, pretending she didn't just witness the scene before.

"Nothing is going on," the grunt replied. "It's unsafe to go in there, so I'm standing guard to make sure people don't wander in. Am I not a good Samaritan?"

"Uh… okay," Zora said. She looked at Kale. "Uh, let's just move on, Kale."

They left the Rocket grunt behind and instead went into Azalea Town. They went for the Pokémon Center and healed up the team before checking in with the others in the PC.

"What is up with all these female Pokémon I'm getting?" Zora said. "I have seven females and only five males at the moment. Is this because I'm a girl? Or is it just a coincidence?"

Zora logged off the PC and left the Pokémon Center. She checked the money on her card.

"We have a lot of money from all those Trainer battles," she said. "Maybe we should get some more supplies before the Gym battle. Though we can wait with that until after we've beaten the Gym Trainers."

They moved on to the Gym, but found it blocked by another Team Rocket grunt. He wouldn't move, instead chatting about how tasty Slowpoke Tails were. Zora and Kale left him be, wondering what to do now. They walked around the town, hearing how people were talking about the missing Slowpoke. They went to the house where the Poké Ball Creator named Kurt lived.

"Apparently he can make Poké Balls out of Apricorns," Zora said. "We've got quite a few Apricorns. Maybe we should have him make some for us."

"Sounds neat," Kale said. "Let's go in."

When they got inside, however, it turned out the Slowpoke problem was much bigger than first anticipated.

"Do you know Team Rocket?" Kurt asked, after refusing to make balls for Zora. "Ah, don't worry. I'll tell you anyhow. Team Rocket's an evil gang that uses Pokémon for their dirty work."

 _Isn't that what most humans do anyway?_ Zora thought in her mind but not aloud. _Trainers included?_

"They're supposed to have disbanded three years ago," Kurt continued. "Anyway, they're at the well, cutting off Slowpoke Tails for sale! So I'm going to go give them a lesson in pain! Hang on, Slowpoke! Old Kurt is on his way!"

And suddenly Kurt stormed out of the house, leaving behind Zora, Kale, and his granddaughter.

"Grandpa's gone," she said. "I'm so lonely…"

"He just left," Zora said quietly. "Eh, don't worry, I'll bring him back."

Zora and Kale left the house and headed for the Slowpoke Well. The Rocket grunt standing guard was gone now, allowing Zora and Kale to descend into the well. Kurt was down next to the ladder. He turned as he noticed Zora's presence.

"Hey there, Zora," Kurt greeted. "The guard up top took off when I shouted at him. But then I took a tumble down the well. I slammed down hard on my back, so I can't move."

"Oh dang," Zora said.

"Rats!" Kurt swore. "If I were fit, my Pokémon would've punished them… Ah, it can't be helped. Zora, show them how gutsy you are in my place!"

"I will, old man Kurt," Zora said. "You can count on me, Kale and the rest of my team! Let's go, Kale!"

They moved on further into the cave, where there were stairs and water.

"Okay, we have a chance of encountering a wild Slowpoke here," Zora said. "Whether we'll catch it before or after we take care of those Rocket goons doesn't matter. We have plenty of Poké Balls, and we'll just use the same poison strategy like before."

"Okay, let's go!" Kale said impatiently. "I can't wait to fight those goons!"

They moved on and ran into a Team Rocket grunt. He immediately went over to them.

"Humph! I was standing guard up top when some old coot yelled at me," the grunt said. "He startled me so much that I fell down here. How about I vent my anger and take it out on you!"

The Team Rocket grunt pulled out a Poké Ball and sent out a Rattata.

"Kale, use Razor Leaf," Zora said without putting as much energy into her words as the grunt.

The Rattata used Quick Attack but didn't do much damage. Kale launched a Razor Leaf, but the Rattata managed to avoid the attack, surprising Kale and Zora. After another Razor Leaf though, the Rattata went down. The grunt sent out another Rattata which also went down with one Razor Leaf.

Beaten, the Rocket grunt looked flustered. "Sure, we've been hacking the tails off Slowpoke and selling them," he said. "Team Rocket will do anything for money!"

"Sure thing, pal," Zora said. "Good luck getting out of here on your own."

Zora and Kale left the Rocket grunt, who had no conscious Pokémon left to protect him, so he just stood still, hoping nothing would come out and attack him. Zora found a Super Potion on the ground and fought another Team Rocket grunt on the way down some stairs. She had a Zubat and an Ekans, so Zora sent out Omelet to take care of them both. They both went down with Extrasensory, though the Ekans managed to poison Omelet in the process. After the battle, Zora used her last Antidote to cure it.

They went down the stairs and faced against another Team Rocket grunt, who had a Rattata and two Zubat. Kale took care of the Rattata with Razor Leaf, while Bambi took out both Zubat by himself with Thundershock. After the battle, Bambi learned Thunder Wave.

Zora decided to put Bambi in the front for the next battle, as a Rocket Executive named Proton was up ahead, and also to get him some more experience. They walked up ahead to confront Proton.

"What do we have here?" Proton remarked upon Zora's approach. "I am often labeled as the scariest and cruelest guy in Team Rocket…"

"I don't care," Zora said. "Stop what you're doing and get out of here!"

"I strongly urge you not to interfere with our business!" Proton said and sent out a Zubat, just as Zora had anticipated.

"Alright, Bambi, use Thundershock," Zora ordered.

Bambi did as told and took out the Zubat in one hit. Executive Proton sent out a Koffing, which urged Zora to send out Omelet to take out with Extrasensory. It didn't get completely knocked out, however, but it did make the Koffing flinch and refused to attack. Omelet went for another Extrasensory and knocked out the Koffing. Afterwards Omelet wanted to learn Yawn, and Zora decided to have Growl replaced. Executive Proton was defeated, and he gave Zora some prize money.

"Humph…" Proton grumbled after handing over his money. "Team Rocket was indeed broken up three years ago. But we continued our activities underground. A small obstacle like you won't be much of a problem for our mission. I advise you to be very afraid of what is to come!"

And with that, all the Team Rocket members ran off, scooting out of the Slowpoke Well together. Zora went over to one of the Slowpoke which had their tails cut off to check if it was okay. Kurt arrived shortly after, his back apparently having gotten better.

"Way to go, Zora!" Kurt said cheerfully. "Team Rocket has taken off. My back's better, too. Let's get out of here."

They went out of the well together and returned to Kurt's house, assuring his granddaughter that Kurt was okay.

"Hi, Zora!" Kurt said, as if greeting her. "You handled yourself like a real hero. As I mentioned before, Team Rocket was disbanded by a boy called Red three years ago."

"I know," Zora said with a smile. "I've seen, heard and read all about Red."

"Now that they have come back…" Kurt continued. "I have a bad feeling about it… In any case, it would please me greatly to make Poké Balls for a Trainer like you, Zora. This is all I have now, but take it."

Kurt handed over a Fast Ball to Zora, who accepted it and put it away with the other Poké Balls. And then she took out some Apricorns, which surprised Kurt.

"You have Apricorns for me?" he said. "Fine! I'll turn them into Poké Balls. Which ones do you want me to make?"

Zora looked at the various Apricorns she had plucked on her journey so far. "The five black ones, please," she said.

Kurt nodded and accepted the five black Apricorns. "It'll take a day to make you a Poké Ball. Come back for it later."

"Okay," Zora replied. "I'll come back tomorrow then."

Kurt immediately started on the Poké Ball creation, but before Zora could leave, his granddaughter came over.

"That's right!" she said. "I'll give you my grandpa's number!"

"Oh, sure," Zora said, to Bambi's surprise. "That would be helpful, to know when they're done."

Zora brought out her Pokégear and exchanged numbers with Kurt's own Pokégear. His granddaughter smiled.

"My grandpa can tell you more about Apricorns," she said.

"No, that's okay," Zora said. "I'll just find out when he's made them. Well, I'll be going now. See you later!"

* * *

After Zora and Bambi had left Kurt's house, she sent out Kale again. They returned to the Pokémon Center and healed up. Now the Slowpoke had returned to Azalea Town, looking more lively with the pink lizard creatures around.

"Alright, now that Team Rocket is gone from the well and the Slowpoke have returned," Zora said as they walked out of the Pokémon Center, "we can now catch a Slowpoke in the well. We still have plenty of Poké Balls to spare, so it shouldn't be a problem. Let's go!"

They returned to the Slowpoke Well and went into it. Before entering the cave though, Zora decided to have Omelet out instead, since he now knew Yawn. They ran around until they encountered a Zubat and ran away from it. They ran into another eighteen Zubat and ran away from them, before finally running into a Slowpoke.

"Finally!" Zora uttered. "Okay, Omelet, use Yawn to make it fall asleep!"

Omelet let out a big Yawn, making the Slowpoke yawn as well. Afterwards it growled a bit at Omelet, and Omelet simply used Charm, making the Slowpoke flustered and missed its attack. Afterwards, it fell asleep.

"Perfect, I'll try to catch it now," Zora said and threw a Poké Ball.

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… and clicked. The Slowpoke was captured. Zora cheered and picked up the Poké Ball.

"Good job, Omelet!" Zora praised. "And for once it's a male! Let's see… I'll call him… Goofy."

Goofy's Poké Ball materialized itself out of the cave and back to the PC in the Pokémon Center. Zora and Omelet both left the Slowpoke Well and scooted back to the Pokémon Center to check out their new catch.

"Let's see… Naive nature, could have been better. Own Tempo for ability, that's good. We might be able to use Goofy at some point, if nothing else then for headbutting trees. For now though, we'll train up the team we have now and get ready for the Gym Leader, Bugsy."

Zora logged off the computer and got her team out of their Poké Balls in the lounge to make a plan.

"Okay, we'll enter the Gym in a moment and beat the Gym Trainers there," Zora said. "There are four of them, one with a Weedle and a Caterpie, one with a Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill, one with a Paras, and, it seems, a pair of twins with a Spinarak and a Ledyba."

"Quite a handful," Crisper commented. "What's your plan here?"

"We'll have Crisper and Omelet take them out," Zora explained. "Omelet will take out the Poison-type bugs, and Crisper will take care of the others. For the twins, it's going to be a double battle, so we'll have Omelet and Bambi out to take them out with Extrasensory and Thundershock. Once the Trainers are out, we'll go to Route 33 and train up the team until every one of you are level seventeen. Bugsy's Scyther is that level, and I think it's better to be on par with him than lower leveled."

"Sounds reasonable," Fly Boy commented. "Also, congrats on evolving, Kale, never got to say that!"

"Thanks," Kale said. "I wish you guys luck in the Gym battle. I'm weak to Bug, so I can't go."

"That's right," Zora said. "Only Crisper, Fly Boy and Dingbat will participate in the battle against Bugsy. Maybe Omelet to take out his Kakuna. For now, at least, we should go take out the Trainers and then train ourselves. Let's go."

"Yeah!"

* * *

They went to the Gym, Zora having Crisper out since all the opponents had Bug-type Pokémon, which were weak to Rock, and started the puzzle, which was riding some spider transports across a wooden 'web'. The middle spider took them to the first Gym Trainer, who had the Caterpie and Weedle. Crisper took out the Caterpie with a Rock Throw.

Afterwards the Trainer sent out his Weedle, so Zora sent out Omelet to take it out with Extrasensory. The first Gym Trainer was beaten, and they moved on. They took the spider on the left and went the right direction. They fought the second Gym Trainer, who had the Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill. Zora opened with Omelet instead of Crisper to take out the three Poison-type Pokémon with Extrasensory. The Beedrill had to be taken out with two times Extrasensory, but its Fury Attack didn't do much damage to him.

Zora returned Omelet to his Poké Ball and got Crisper back out. She pulled a blue lever which caused one of the 'web' lines made of wood, a blue one, to sink below, so the spider transport couldn't cross it. Zora went onto the spider, and it proceeded to take them to the next Gym Trainer, who only had a Paras. Crisper took it out with a single Rock Throw.

The team returned to the second level, and Zora pulled the blue lever again, so the blue line was raised again, and the spider could traverse it. She went onto the spider again, and it took them to the twins, the last pair of Gym Trainers before Bugsy.

The twins sent out Ledyba and Spinarak, and Zora sent out Crisper and Omelet. However, Omelet was a bit injured, and Zora knew the Ledyba had Comet Punch. Unsure if Omelet could take five hits in a row, Zora decided to call him back and instead sent out Bambi.

The Ledyba used Supersonic on Crisper, and she ended up throwing a rock in her own face somehow. The Spinarak threw a Poison Sting at Bambi, but it didn't poison nor do much damage. Bambi used Thundershock against the Ledyba but didn't knock it out. Crisper broke out of the confusion and used Rock Throw on the Spinarak, knocking it out.

The Ledyba missing a Comet Punch, it was struck by Bambi's second Thundershock and was knocked out. The twins were beat, and there were no other Gym Trainers left in the Gym. Now there was only Leader Bugsy left.

"Here's where we get out," Zora said and took the spider back to the second level, then the first spider back to the entrance. They left the Gym and returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up the team before going to Route 33 to train up.

Kale was the first to get trained to level seventeen, beating three Ekans and two Zubat, as darkness had fallen. Afterwards, Omelet went out training, taking out one Rattata, two Ekans and one Zubat before reaching level seventeen as well. Afterwards, Crisper was trained until she had defeated six Rattata, two Ekans and six Zubat. It was very late though, so after the first three team members had been trained up, Zora decided to return to the Pokémon Center in Azalea Town so they could rest for the night.

The next morning, they continued the training in the still rainy Route 33, first training Fly Boy, who defeated nine Hoppip, seven Ekans, seven Spearow and seven Rattata before reaching level seventeen and Zora refusing him to learn Whirlwind. Afterwards, Dingbat beat seventeen Hoppip, thirteen Ekans, thirteen Spearow and two Rattata before finally learning Wing Attack, while forgetting Leech Life. Now there was only Bambi left to train up.

Bambi battled a Spearow and an Ekans before reaching the next level. By then, he started glowing, indicating he was evolving. Zora gasped in awe and joy.

Bambi turned white and started growing, until he was about a third larger than before, and his wool decreased in mass. As the transformation finished, Bambi regained colors and had evolved into a Flaaffy!

Zora squealed with delight and picked up Bambi. "My big boy!" she shrieked and hugged him tightly. "You're growing up so fast, it's hard to believe you only hatched four days ago!"

Bambi giggled at the hug. "I feel much stronger too!" Bambi said. "Let's train more!"

After evolving, Bambi took out another two Spearow, six Ekans, seven Hoppip and four Rattata before he was on par with the rest of the team. With two evolved Pokémon, a Geodude with Rock Throw, a Togepi with Extrasensory and a Zubat with Wing Attack, they were ready to take on Bugsy's team.

Before going to the Gym, however, Zora decided to stop by the Poké Mart and stock up on supplies. She bought five Super Potions, five Antidotes, two Awakenings, four Parlyz Heals and four Burn Heals. Now she was broke again, but they also had plenty of supplies to manage themselves against Bugsy and, hopefully, the next part of the journey afterwards.

Zora returned to the Pokémon Center and healed up the team, then brought everyone out in the lounge to talk strategy.

"Firstly, I forgot to give you this, Kale," Zora said and gave the Bayleef the Miracle Seed they had been given the previous day. "To boost the power of your Grass-type moves."

"Oh, thanks," Kale said and put the seed between the bulbs making out his collar.

"Now, as for the battle against Bugsy," Zora said, turning her attention to all her Pokémon, "I believe the safest thing for us to do is to have Crisper out to take care of the Scyther, since she has high defense and Scyther doesn't know any moves that are strong against Rock or Ground. Now, Scyther has Quick Attack and U-Turn, the second being a Bug-type move. Unfortunately Crisper doesn't resist Bug, but with your massive defense, you should be able to take it, should the Scyther land a hit."

"Okay," Crisper said. "And I just throw rocks at it, right?"

"Yes," Zora replied. "Bugsy will open with Scyther, so Crisper should start being out front. Once the Scyther has been taken down, Dingbat can take out his Kakuna and Metapod, as they only have Poison Sting and Tackle to attack."

"Got it," Dingbat said. "Leave those worm-bags to me!"

"Now, we have ten Super Potions and three normal Potions to spare," Zora explained. "And five Antidotes, as well as a single Hyper Potion, so we should be okay. As long as Crisper can tank a U-Turn with little problem and take out the Scyther with Rock Throw, maybe assisted by Bambi's Thundershock or Dingbat's Wing Attack, everything else will be no big deal. The only danger here is that Scyther has high physical attack, which means it can deal a lot of damage with U-Turn, getting bonus damage for the move being the same type as Scyther itself, and the move itself being pretty strong as well."

"Doesn't Dingbat resist Bug with being both a Flying-type _and_ a Poison-type?" Bambi asked.

"Technically yes, but Zubat have pretty low defense, and Scyther is also pretty fast," Zora explained. "Maybe even faster than Dingbat is right now. Even if he quad-resists Bug, I don't want to risk him getting killed."

"But isn't it also risky for Crisper, since she doesn't resist Bug at all?" Fly Boy asked skeptically. "Even if she has high defense?"

"Maybe," Zora said. "But Scyther is very weak to Rock, so Crisper is our best bet at taking it down anyway. The Gyms are going to get tougher from now on, and we can't always have the best moves against them at the same time with resisting all their own attacks. We will have to take some risks, because we have no other choice."

The Pokémon looked around at each other before humming and nodding in understanding. Zora rose from the couch. "Well, if everyone understands their role, let's go to the Gym."

* * *

Putting everyone back in their Poké Balls except for Crisper, Zora left the Pokémon Center and went to the Gym. Having defeated all the Gym Trainers the previous day, there was only Bugsy to take care of, so she and Crisper went onto the spider transports, pulled the levers and continued riding the spiders until they arrived on Bugsy's island at the end of the Gym.

Zora gulped and looked down at Crisper as they stepped off the spider transport. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," Crisper replied, punching her fists together. "Let's wreck 'em."

Zora took a deep breath and exhaled, then stepped forward to face Bugsy. Bugsy smiled at the arrival of the Trainer.

"I'm Bugsy," Bugsy greeted. "I never lose when it comes to Bug-type Pokémon. My research is going to make me the authority on Bug-type Pokémon!"

Bugsy pulled out a Poké Ball from his ball belt.

"Let me demonstrate what I've learned from my studies."

Bugsy threw his Poké Ball, and Scyther was sent out. Zora gulped.

"Crisper, get 'em!" Zora said. "Use Rock Throw!"

Scyther leered at Crisper, but that did not deter Crisper. She threw a large rock right in the Scyther's face, knocking it out in one hit. Zora threw her arms in the air.

"Yes! Great job, Crisper!" Zora cheered.

"Hey, can I learn Selfdestruct?" Crisper asked as she leveled up.

"NO!" Zora immediately shouted. "You are absolutely NOT learning Selfdestruct! Do you even know what we're doing here?!"

Crisper held up her hands in surprise over Zora's reaction. "Okay, okay, sorry!" Crisper replied. "Just wanted to know…"

Zora sighed. Bugsy seemed a bit stumped by the scene, but he quickly got his act together.

"So you took out my ace," Bugsy said. "That doesn't mean you've won yet. I still have two Pokémon left. Go, Metapod!"

At the same time with Bugsy sending out his Metapod, Zora called Crisper back, instead sending out Dingbat as planned.

"The Scyther's down, the rest of the show is yours, Dingbat!" Zora said with a smile and crossed arms. "Sic 'em with Wing Attack!"

Dingbat used Wing Attack against the Metapod, but it wasn't completely knocked out yet. It used Tackle, barely doing anything to Dingbat. Bugsy healed up his Metapod with a Super Potion, but Dingbat quickly launched another Wing Attack to put it down to low health again. With another Wing Attack, the Metapod went down.

"Even though it's my last Pokémon, Bug Pokémon are tough!" Bugsy said and threw his last Poké Ball. "Kakuna, go!"

"Use Wing Attack!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat brought the Kakuna down almost to unconsciousness.

"Hang in there," Bugsy said. "Just a little more!"

"Yeah, a little more until you lose!" Zora said. "Finish him!"

Dingbat threw one last Wing Attack, and the Kakuna was brought down. Bugsy had lost, Zora had won.

"Good job, Dingbat!" Zora praised. "You too, Crisper. We couldn't have done this without you."

Dingbat and Crisper both cheered over their victory. Bugsy called his defeated Pokémon back and smiled at Zora.

"Whoa, amazing!" he commented. "You're an expert on Pokémon! My research isn't complete yet. Okay, you win. Take this Badge."

Bugsy handed over the Hive Badge to Zora, who eagerly put it beside the Zephyr Badge in her badge case.

"Do you know the benefits of the Hive Badge?" Bugsy asked. "If you have it, Pokémon up to level thirty will obey you, even traded ones. Pokémon that know Cut will be able to use it outside of battle, too. Here, I also want you to have this."

Bugsy handed over a TM to Zora, labeled TM89. She put it away in her TM pocket.

"TM89 contains U-Turn," Bugsy explained. "It lets your Pokémon attack, then switch with the next Pokémon in your party. Isn't that great?"

"It is," Zora said with a smile. "Thanks for the battle."

Bugsy smiled back. "Bug-type Pokémon are deep," he said. "There are many mysteries to explore. Study your top choices thoroughly."

"I will," Zora replied. "Goodbye, Bugsy. Let's go, Crisper, Dingbat!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, things are going well so far! I wonder how long it will last...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 2  
> Live Pokémon: 13  
> Death counter: 0


	11. Through the Forest

As Zora and the team left the Gym, they returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up the team, even though they had barely been scratched.

"That worked better than I thought it would," Zora said as the team relaxed in the lounge to plan their next move. "Told you Crisper would be fine."

"Only because Scyther started out with a Leer," Fly Boy said. "What if it had used U-Turn to begin with?"

"Well, it didn't, so it doesn't matter anymore," Zora said. "We've got two Badges and no deaths so far. I think we're doing pretty well for the time being."

"So what's our next move?" Dingbat asked.

"Let's see," Zora said and brought out her Pokégear. "The next Gym should be in Goldenrod City. It's the largest city in Johto, so there are quite a few things to do there. There's a Game Corner and… Ooh, if we get 200 game coins, we can buy an Abra!"

" _Buy_ an Abra?" Kale repeated skeptically. "Is that entirely safe?"

"Totally," Zora replied. "The Pokémon gained at the Game Corner are not wild, so they will not die nor cause any other Pokémon gained there to die. Besides, there are no wild Pokémon in Goldenrod, so we don't have to worry about an encounter there. There are two Pokémon we can get there, both of which we really want. One is the Abra, the other is an Eevee."

"Eevee?" Bambi repeated. "What do we need that for?"

"Eevee can evolve into one of five different types," Zora explained. "What we want is an Umbreon, the Dark-type Eeveelution."

"Didn't you say we want a Fire-type Pokémon?" Kale asked skeptically. "Or a Water-type? Shouldn't we evolve it into a Flareon or Vaporeon instead? Or even an Espeon, I've heard those are powerful."

"We already have a Slowpoke for a Water-type," Zora said. "Besides, Flareon is actually not a good Pokémon. It's messed up. And while Espeon is a powerhouse, we don't have any Dark-types, and having an Umbreon will be good against the fourth Gym, which has Ghost-types. Plus, Umbreon can tank a lot of hits, unlike most other Eeveelutions. Plus, it looks awesome. We want and need an Umbreon."

"Okay, I get it," Kale said. "Hey, isn't Goldenrod City the place where that Miltank is located?"

"Precisely," Zora replied. "This is where Crisper will really shine. Miltank knows Rollout, Stomp, Attract and Milk Drink. Since Crisper is a Rock-type, she resists Rollout and Stomp, and since she's a female, Attract won't affect her. All the Miltank can do is heal itself with Milk Drink. Whitney's Gym will be no problem with Crisper on the team."

"Alright then, what are we waiting for?" Dingbat said. "Let's go!"

"Not just yet," Zora said. "In order to get to Goldenrod City, we need to go through Ilex Forest first, and then we have to go through Route 34. Both are new areas with new encounters."

"So?" Fly Boy said. "We just catch them and-"

"No," Zora said. "Well, yes, we will catch our encounter in Ilex Forest, which could be either a Paras or an Oddish depending on the darkness in the forest at the moment. It's soon sunset, which means the nocturnal Oddish will come out. Whichever we get doesn't really matter, we probably won't use them anyway."

"So what's the problem?" Crisper asked.

"The problem is Route 34," Zora explained. "We can't have an encounter there right away. The reason is because wild Abra live there, and while uncommon, they do tend to appear out of nowhere. The bad thing about encountering an Abra is that Trainers only get one chance to catch it. If it gets out of the first Poké Ball, it will Teleport away. If that happens to us, that's a waste of an encounter."

"What else can we get on Route 34 other than Abra?" Omelet asked.

"We could get a Drowzee or a Ditto," Zora said, checking her notes. "But we'd much rather have a Drowzee than a Ditto, as Ditto is virtually useless to us. We can't breed, I've read online that Nuzlocke Trainers are unable to breed their Pokémon without ending up with dead babies. And that's pretty much the only use Ditto would be to us. So we need a Drowzee."

"And the Abra?" Bambi pointed out. "How do we avoid getting Abra as our first encounter?"

"Remember when I told you about the Game Corner?" Zora said. "If we buy an Abra there with game coins, we don't have to catch one in the wild. We are allowed to run from an Abra and catch a Drowzee instead."

"That sounds efficient," Kale remarked. "So in other words, we catch a Pokémon in Ilex Forest, then we avoid encountering any in Route 34, get to Goldenrod City, buy an Abra, return to Route 34, find a Drowzee and catch it?"

"Exactly," Zora said with a smile. "Alright, one more thing. Whitney's Miltank is her ace, and it is at level nineteen, just two levels above Bugsy's Scyther. I don't remember if I told you this before, but we can't fight Gym Leaders with Pokémon stronger than their ace either."

"We can't?!" the team exclaimed in unison. "What happens if we do?"

"I don't know," Zora said. "Most Nuzlocke Trainers avoid using Pokémon in Gym Leader battles when they are higher leveled than the Gym Leader's ace, but it doesn't seem like it has a death penalty. Most say it has something to do with honor, I think."

"Honor?" Kale repeated with a frown. "Who cares about honor when there are lives at stake here?"

"I don't want to risk it," Zora said. "So after we've caught our encounter in Ilex Forest, we should run away from any other wild Pokémon there."

"What about Trainer battles?" Bambi asked.

"We can't run from those," Zora reminded him. "We can fight the Trainers we meet on the way to Goldenrod, along with the Gym Trainers in the Gym. If everyone's not at level nineteen by the last Gym Trainer, we'll go out and fight wild Pokémon until you are."

"So if the next Gym Leader's ace is two levels above this Gym's ace," Fly Boy said, "how high level is the fourth Gym Leader's ace?"

"Let me see," Zora said and looked through her notes. "The Gym Leader in Ectruteak City has a Gengar at level twenty-five, a good six levels above Whitney's Miltank. We should be good with training after beating Whitney and getting our third Badge."

"Well, that's good to know, at least," Fly Boy said.

"Can we go now?" Omelet asked impatiently. "I wanna go in the forest already!"

Zora smiled at the Togepi and put her Pokégear away. "I suppose we've spent enough time here. Oh wait, old man Kurt should have our Poké Balls made from Apricorns ready in a while. We could go to Ilex Forest, get out encounter there, and then return and get the Poké Balls. Then we'll move on to Goldenrod City."

"Sounds like a plan," Dingbat said. "Let's go!"

Zora got up and put every Pokémon away except for Omelet. They left the Pokémon Center and went towards the west gate of Azalea Town, leading to Ilex Forest…

Zora heard someone shout, and she stopped up, as did Omelet in confusion. They turned around and saw Silver heading over to them. He stopped up right in front of Zora, with Omelet standing close to her leg.

"…Tell me something," Silver said quietly. "Is it true that Team Rocket has returned?"

"It is," Zora said. "But I took care of them."

Silver looked mildly surprised, then barked a laugh. "What? You beat them? Hah! Quit lying."

"I'm not lying," Zora hissed. "They invaded the town and took the Slowpoke, so I went down the Slowpoke Well and put them out of commission. They ran away after I beat them."

Silver's smirk faded, replaced by a frown. "Are you serious?" he said. "Then let's see how good you are."

Silver pulled out a Poké Ball and sent out a Gastly. Zora looked astonished at it, then down at Omelet.

"Omelet, take it out with Extrasensory," Zora said.

Omelet looked from Zora to the Gastly and stepped forward. "Okay," he said.

The Gastly gave Omelet a Mean Look, making his legs unable to move. Despite this, Omelet called forth an Extrasensory, which took out Gastly in one hit. Silver scoffed at the tiny egg Pokémon.

"You think you're so strong," Silver said and returned the Gastly to its Poké Ball, bringing out another. "But I remember you have a Grass-type on your team. Come out, Quilava!"

Silver sent out his Quilava, apparently having evolved from Cyndaquil since last they met. Zora smirked at the sight. She called back Omelet, instead sending out Crisper.

"You think you're so smart," Zora said. "But I remember how I crushed you last time. Crisper, use Magnitude!"

After the Quilava leered at Crisper, the Geodude shook the ground with a Magnitude 4. It didn't do much damage to the Quilava, as it was the weakest of the Magnitudes.

"Use another Magnitude," Zora said. "And make it stronger this time! Let's make him cry!"

Quilava leered at Crisper again, who landed a good Magnitude 7 at the Quilava, making it fall, get bruised and faint. Silver swore and returned the Quilava to its Poké Ball.

"Say, you've got a lot of nerve, coming here," Silver said and took out his last Poké Ball. "Zubat! Go!"

As Silver sent out his Zubat, Zora called Crisper back, instead sending Omelet forth again.

"Omelet, sic 'em," Zora ordered with crossed arms and a smile on her face.

But before Omelet could use Extrasensory, the Zubat out-sped him and used Bite. It didn't do much damage, but it did make Omelet flinch in surprise. Zora's smile fell, and her arms fell to her sides, her hands clenching into fists.

"Try again, Omelet," Zora said. "You can do it!"

Before Omelet could try another Extrasensory, Zubat landed a Supersonic, confusing the Togepi. Omelet broke through the confusion, however, and landed an Extrasensory. The Zubat was not knocked out, however, but almost.

"I'm getting tired of you!" Silver hissed.

"Touché!" Zora replied. "Omelet, use another Extrasensory, and please don't hit yourself!"

The Zubat bit Omelet again, but luckily the Togepi snapped out of the confusion and landed the final Extrasensory which took out Silver's Zubat. Silver snarled and called his Zubat back.

"Humph, useless Pokémon," Silver hissed. "Listen, you only won because my Pokémon are weak. I hate the weak. Pokémon, Trainer. It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around. That goes for Team Rocket, too. They think they are big and tough as long as they are in a group. But get them alone, and they're weak. I hate them all."

Silver walked closer to Zora, almost sticking his face into her face. She leaned back at the movement, and she heard Omelet growl below her.

"You stay out of my way," Silver spat in Zora's face. "You won't be an exception if you get in my way."

With that, Silver backed off and left Azalea Town through the west gate, into Ilex Forest. Zora relaxed and stood straight again, letting out a deep sigh.

"That guy is getting on my nerves," Zora said. "But he's also kind of creepy at the same time… Anyway, good fight, Omelet, you did great."

Omelet smiled up at Zora, now that the mean boy was gone. "Can we go play in the forest now?" he asked.

"Let's heal you guys up in the Pokémon Center first, shall we?" Zora said.

* * *

After getting the team healed up, Zora decided to have Bambi out front, so they could paralyze the first encounter they had in Ilex Forest. They left the Pokémon Center, Zora double-checking if they had what they needed for the next leg of the journey, and then they went to the west gate and entered Ilex Forest.

"Alright, so there's no tall grass in this place," Zora explained to Bambi as they prepared to step into the forest. "There are trees everywhere, and it's dark in here, so they can come out from anywhere. Oh, and it seems like the sun has set now."

"Which means we could run into an Oddish," Bambi concluded.

"Yes," Zora said. "Now, let's go and see what we find."

They walked through the forest, until they encountered… an Oddish. As predicted.

"Okay, just use Thunder Wave on it," Zora said. "It will get paralyzed and easier to catch then."

"Alright," Bambi said and used Thunder Wave, paralyzing the Oddish.

The Oddish used absorb, but it was practically useless, as it hadn't lost any health nor did it do any damage to Bambi. Zora took out a Poké Ball and threw it at the Oddish. It shook three times and clicked for capture.

"Excellent," Zora said and picked up the ball, inspecting the Oddish inside. "Hmm, another female. I will call her… Blueberry."

The ball materialized itself away to the Pokémon Center. "Alright, let's go back to Azalea Town and see if Kurt is done with our Poké Balls," Zora said.

They left Ilex Forest and returned to Azalea Town, immediately wandering over to Kurt's house. They walked inside, and Kurt seemed pleased to see them.

"Ah, Zora!" Kurt greeted. "I just finished your Poké Ball. Here!"

Zora was given five Heavy Balls by Kurt, which she put away in the Poké Ball pocket.

"That turned out great," Kurt said. "Try catching Pokémon with it."

Zora smiled. "Thanks, Kurt," she said. "Uh, I actually want some more Poké Balls…"

"You have Apricorns for me?" Kurt asked. "Fine, I'll turn them into Poké Balls. Which ones?"

"The green ones," Zora said. "I have four of them. Here."

Zora handed over her four green Apricorns to Kurt.

"I'll have them done in a day," Kurt said. "Come back for them later."

"I will," Zora said. "Though it may take longer than a day. I'll return when I get the time. See ya!"

Zora and the team left Kurt's house, returned to the west gate and went back into Ilex Forest.

"Well, now it's time to move on," Zora said. "Let's get through this forest and head for Goldenrod City!"

* * *

Zora kept Bambi out in front as they walked through the forest.

"Hey, Zora," Bambi said. "How exactly do we avoid our first encounter in Route 34 when we get there?"

"Easy, we use a Repel," Zora said. "That's why I bought three. If we have to go through any tall grass to advance, we'll use a Repel and prevent wild Pokémon from jumping out at us."

"Oh, okay then," Bambi said. "Just wanted to be sure."

"Of course."

They walked on in silence, until they came across a guy wearing glasses by some trees. They stopped and greeted him.

"Hey, what's up?" Zora asked.

"Oh, man," the guy said. "My boss is going to be angry…"

"What happened?"

"The Farfetch'd that cut trees for charcoal took off in the forest. Can you catch them for me?"

"Uh, sure thing. How do I do it?"

"Farfetch'd have sensitive ears. If you step on a branch, they will face toward you. That's your chance. Sneak up from behind and catch them… Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah, I think I can handle that," Zora said. "I'll find them and bring them back here. See you soon!"

They walked on, until they spotted a Farfetch'd behind a boulder. They stepped on some dry branches, making them crack. The Farfetch'd immediately looked in their direction, staring vividly, but not seeming to be able to directly see Zora or Bambi.

Zora gestured for Bambi to follow her, and they sneaked around another pile of branches, around the trees and ended up behind the Farfetch'd. Before the Farfetch'd noticed what was going on, Zora caught hold of it. They walked back to the guy with the glasses.

"Wow! You found a Farfetch'd!" the guy remarked with joy. "Thank you! But… there is one more missing. If you step on a branch, it will face that way, remember? That's your chance to catch it. Sneak up on it slowly from behind."

"I know," Zora said. "I'll get the other Farfetch'd back for you. See you soon."

They moved on through the forest, finding a useless Revive on the forest floor on the way, then they spotted the other Farfetch'd up ahead. They tried sneaking up behind it, but they accidentally stepped on a branch just a meter away. The Farfetch'd quacked and looked at them. This one spotted them in the darkness and ran off. Zora sighed.

"We'll need to be smart about this," Zora said. "Let's follow it."

An Oddish jumped out at them, but they shooed it away and followed the Farfetch'd. As they approached it, it ran off again and ran around a corner. Zora smirked. They got it now. They walked the other way, stepping on some branches, making the Farfetch'd look their way.

They kept moving north, until they found some more branches and stepped on them to make a noise. As they walked back around the trees and saw the Farfetch'd, it was staring through the trees at north. They still couldn't sneak behind it though, so they returned to the northern branches, then turned to the east and stepped on more branches.

They walked back the other way, avoiding the branches at north and tip-toed their way back to the Farfetch'd. It was now facing away from them, and they could now sneak up from behind it. Before the Farfetch'd could react, Zora grabbed it from behind and carried it back to the guy with the glasses and the other Farfetch'd.

"Wow!" the guy exclaimed at their return. "You got me both of them. Thank you so much!"

"No problem," Zora said, though a few twigs and leaves had gotten stuck in her hair and hat.

"My boss's Pokémon won't obey me, because I don't have a Badge," the guy explained. "Phew. You saved me."

Suddenly, another man appeared from the south path of the forest.

"Ah! My Far and Fetch'd!" the man said. "You found them for us, kid? Without them, we wouldn't be able to cut trees for charcoal. Thanks, kid!"

"Again, no problem," Zora said with a smile.

"Now, how can I thank you…? I know! Here, take this."

The man handed over an HM to Zora, labeled HM01.

"That's the HM Cut," the man explained. "Teach that to a Pokémon to clear small trees. Of course, you have to have the Gym Badge from Azalea to use it."

"Well, good thing I have it then," Zora said and put the HM for Cut away. "Only Kale can learn Cut on my team though, but Cut isn't worth using on my core team. We'll return to the Pokémon Center and teach it to Dummy or Bushy. Come on, Bambi."

* * *

They returned to the Pokémon Center and took out Dummy the Rattata, putting her in Fly Boy's spot. They would put Fly Boy back on the team once they had gotten to Goldenrod City, or the first PC they stumbled upon on the way there.

After teaching Dummy Cut, they returned to the forest and cut down the small tree blocking their way through the rest of Ilex Forest. They went through the rest of the forest, running from any wild Pokémon they encountered. They found an X Attack on the forest floor and ran around through the many, many trees. They ended up in a glade where a man was ramming against one of the trees, taking Zora and Bambi by surprise. They walked over to him to see what was going on.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Zora asked the man, who noticed their presence.

"What am I doing?" the man repeated. "I'm shaking trees using Headbutt. It's fun. Here, you try it with your Pokémon, too!"

"Uh, no thanks," Zora said. "Or, actually, okay, will you teach it to one of them?"

"Sure," the man said. "Which Pokémon should learn it?"

"Hmm…" Zora gazed at her team members. "Hey Kale, wanna learn Headbutt?"

Kale got out of his Poké Ball and stood beside Zora and Bambi. "Sure, it seems better than Tackle anyway."

"Teach Headbutt to my Bayleef, please," Zora told the man. "He'll forget Tackle."

"Alright then," the man said. A moment later, Kale had forgotten Tackle and learned Headbutt. "There. How do you like it? Your Kale looks stronger!"

Zora smiled at the man. "Thank you," she said. "See ya!"

The team left the Headbutt Man and jumped over a ledge. They walked around the trees and up between another two ledges, when suddenly a dance girl like the one from Violet City approached them.

"Kimono Girl, Kimono Girl, lost and all alone," she sang. "Poor girl lost in the dark Ilex Forest."

She spun around in an elegant little dance. "Hey, I remember you from Violet City," Zora said. "You're that dance girl who asked me about my Togepi egg."

The Kimono Girl stopped and gazed at Zora in wonder. "What?" she said. "You remember me from Violet City? You must be imagining. Anyway, will you show me how to get out of this forest?"

"Uh, sure?" Zora said. "Wouldn't hurt, I guess. Come on."

"You will? Aren't you lost in the forest as well? How do you know how to get out of here?"

Bambi sighed and walked up ahead, surprising Zora. He jumped up and down and pointed in the west direction. The Kimono Girl and Zora both gazed at him.

"Wow! Are you going to show me how to get out?" the Kimono Girl asked Bambi with a sweet voice. "You are such a smart Pokémon!"

Zora rolled her eyes but smiled. Bambi was a smart little guy. The Kimono Girl turned back to Zora and gave her a giggle. "See you," she said and walked off in the direction Bambi had pointed out.

"So, did you think she was nice?" Zora asked Bambi and pat him on his wooly head.

"Yeah, she seemed nice," he said. "And she seemed capable of getting out on her own."

"So you know the direction out of here?" Zora asked curiously.

"Well, yeah, I can smell it," Bambi replied. "Can't you?"

"Human noses are not very acute. I never thought one of the things I would be relying on Pokémon for would be a GPS function."

Bambi cocked his head in confusion. Zora chuckled. "Just joking," she said. "Let's move on."

They found an Ether in the grass and went on, running from the rest of the Pokémon that jumped out at them on the way out of Ilex Forest. They eventually found the gate out and left the forest, instead entering Route 34.

"Alright, everyone," Zora said. "Let's get to Goldenrod City!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 2  
> Live Pokémon: 14  
> Death counter: 0


	12. Game Corner

As they entered Route 34, Zora saw to her relief that there was a dirt road going through the entire route, with Goldenrod City at the end of it, within sight. The only thing standing between them and the city were the Trainers standing along the road, eagerly waiting for someone to battle them.

"Well, I guess we can train up some of you as we get through here," Zora said. "Let's go."

Zora let Omelet be in front as they walked along the dirt road. The first Trainer they encountered was a youngster named Samuel who sent out a Rattata to begin with. It was weak, and Omelet took it out with a single Extrasensory. Afterwards, Samuel sent in a Sandshrew, but it too was taken out by a single Extrasensory. After that, Samuel sent out a Spearow, and Zora decided to send in Bambi to get more experience. It was taken out with one Thundershock, and Samuel's last Pokémon was also a Spearow that was taken out in one hit. With Samuel beaten, Zora and the team moved on.

The next Trainer they encountered was a Pokéfan named Brandon. He had two Pokémon, the first of which was a Snubbull. Omelet was intimidated by its appearance and only managed to bring down its health to half. The Snubbull bit Omelet, but it barely did any damage. With another Extrasensory, Snubbull was taken out. Brandon then sent out a Mareep, which Zora decided to send out Kale to take care of. With two Razor Leafs, the Mareep was taken out, and Pokéfan Brandon was beaten.

Zora then decided to have Dingbat out to get more experience. They ran into another youngster named Ian, who sent out a Mankey. Dingbat took it out with a single Wing Attack. Afterwards Ian sent out a Diglett, at which Zora decided to again send out Kale to take out the Ground-type Pokémon with Razor Leaf. Youngster Ian was defeated, and Zora got his prize money.

Zora declined his offer on exchanging phone numbers, and they moved on. However, as they reached a building in the middle of the route, they heard a familiar voice.

"Grandpa!" Ethan shouted from up ahead.

Zora and Dingbat watched as Ethan and his Marill approached the old man standing outside the building they had just arrived at.

"Good work, Grandpa!" Ethan said happily. "The Pokémon you raised for me has been as healthy as can be!"

"You look fit, too!" the old man remarked with a chuckle.

Ethan seemed to notice Zora's presence, as he turned away from the old man and waved at Zora instead.

"Hey, Zora!" he called.

Zora walked over with Dingbat behind her. "Hey, Ethan," she greeted. "Who's this?"

Ethan smiled and turned to the old man. "Let me introduce you," he said. "This is Zora. She's a Trainer. She seems to be getting better at raising Pokémon. Well, not as good as you, Grandpa, of course!"

"So he's your grandpa?" Zora asked uncertain. "What is this, anyway?"

Ethan turned back to Zora with a big smile. "Follow me, Zora!" he said.

Zora and Dingbat followed Ethan and Marill inside the building. An old woman stood behind a desk, at which there stood a computer similar to the ones found in Pokémon Centers. To the right of them was a bigger room with a floor of grass and dirt, with big windows allowing sunlight inside, almost like a tiny garden. Ethan walked up to the desk.

"Grandma!" he greeted. "Let me introduce my friend. This is Zora!"

The old woman smiled and chuckled. "Ah ha," she said. "This is your girl… friend. I see. Hmm."

Ethan seemed to blush in surprise. "What? Grandma…! What are you talking about? She just happens to live nearby…"

"Hahaha," grandma laughed. "I know. I know. Since you took her here, Ethan, you must be sure about her talent. Right, Zora? Come and see us anytime!"

Ethan turned back to Zora with a nervous smile, a faint blush still present on his face. "Well, I better go now… See ya!"

Ethan and Marill walked past Zora and Dingbat, but didn't leave quite yet. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Ethan said suddenly and turned back to Zora. "Here! This is my Pokégear number!"

Zora giggled nervously but nonetheless took out her Pokégear so they could exchange numbers. They put their Pokégear away after it was done.

"You know you can talk to your Pokémon as they follow you?" Ethan asked.

"Uh, yeah?" Zora said. "I've been doing that all the time…"

"They do all sorts of cute stuff on the road and in towns," Ethan continued with a smile. "I'm taking notes every time they do funny things. Give me a call and I'll share some of them with you."

Zora and Dingbat shared a glance… even though Dingbat didn't have any eyes. Ethan looked back at his grandmother.

"Grandma!" he said with a hint of a pout. "Don't you say anything. We are both Trainers, and we are supposed to exchange numbers. That's all."

With that, Ethan left, and Marill ran off after him. Zora turned and looked at the old woman, who smiled mischievously at her. Zora smiled nervously and decided to leave.

As she got outside, Ethan's grandfather walked over to her with his Pokégear out. "I have an idea!" he said. "I'll give you our numbers. Then you can check on the Pokémon we raise for you."

Zora shrugged but nonetheless brought out her Pokégear yet again and registered both of Ethan's grandparents' numbers, giving them hers in return.

"Call us from time to time when you give us your Pokémon to raise," he said. "I'll be happy to have a use for this Pokégear my grandchild gave me."

With that, Ethan's grandfather returned to stand beside the sign saying 'Pokémon Day Care – Let us raise your Pokémon for you!', and Zora made a realization.

"Oh," she said quietly and moved on over to the water.

"What is it?" Dingbat asked.

"This is where Trainers go to breed Pokémon," Zora said. "To get eggs and hatch them."

"Oh," Dingbat said. "That thing we can't do, huh?"

"Yep. Let's move on. Goldenrod is just up ahead."

They continued walking along the road until a camper approached them and wanted to battle. His name was Todd, and he had a Psyduck. Zora checked her notes. Luckily Psyduck did not know any Psychic-type moves at its current level, so Dingbat was safe to fight it. With three Wing Attacks and some bruises from Water Gun, Dingbat managed to take out the Psyduck.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with Camper Todd, Zora decided to put Kale back in the front to spare Dingbat any surprises that might come, also because she missed talking to Kale.

"You've become so big and strong, Kale," Zora said with a smile as her Starter was brought out and Dingbat back safely tucked in his Poké Ball. "Now let's enter Goldenrod City together."

"Yeah!" Kale replied excited. "Let's go!"

* * *

As soon as they arrived in Goldenrod City, the first thing they did was enter the Pokémon Center and heal up the team. Afterwards they went to the PC to put Dummy back in the box and put Fly Boy back on the team. Zora logged off again, and they left the Pokémon Center to explore the new city they were in.

Right behind the Pokémon Center stood a flashy building which Zora decided to check out.

"'Goldenrod City Game Corner – A Safe and Sound Playground!'," Zora read out loud. "Ah, this is the place. This is where we can get an Abra without having to catch it. Let's check it out."

Zora and Kale went inside the Game Corner, and only three men were present. She went over and talked to two sitting together by a table, and they turned out to be the ones with prizes. The man to the left sold Pokémon in exchange for coins; Abra for 200 coins, Sandshrew for 700 coins and Dratini for 2,100 coins. The other man sold TMs and items to be held by Pokémon. The TMs available were Substitute, Swords Dance, Rest, Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, the last three costing a whooping 10,000 coins each!

"Dang, those things are expensive," Zora said. "But then again, they are the best special moves of each their types, taking their power and accuracy into account…"

"Zora, remember why we're here," Kale said.

"Right, right," Zora said and turned away from the prize men. "We need to get an Abra. It's only 200 coins, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Depends on how easy it will be to get those 200 coins," Kale reminded her. "It's not money, is it?"

"No, I think it's game coins. Let's ask this man, he looks like he runs this place."

They went over to the third man, sitting in the middle of the building, by a large game table with two long sofas on two sides, facing each other.

"Hello," Zora greeted with a nervous smile. "I'm Zora."

"My name is Mr. Game!" the manager introduced. "My heart pounds with excitement when people enjoy my Coin game! In fact, that's what I live for! You look like quite a challenger! Why don't you play my Coin game? You can get fabulous prizes if you manage to collect a lot of Coins."

"Yes, sure," Zora said. "I'll play your game."

"All right!" Mr. Game said with a smile. "Here is your Coin Case!"

Mr. Game handed over a Coin Case to Zora, who put it in her Key Items pocket.

"Show me how you play, and my heart will pound with excitement!"

Zora gulped and went to the other end of the table, sitting down on the other sofa. She had never played this game before, called 'Voltorb Flip', but she had watched videos and read about it online and taken notes on how it worked, so she assumed she was somewhat prepared for it.

It was harder than she thought. Even with the videos she had watched and her notes taken, she failed the first two games she played. On her third try, however, she managed to find all the x2 and x3 cards on the board without triggering any Voltorb cards. She ended up getting 24 coins from the won game, her first victory.

"Yes, I think I'm starting to get a hang of this," she said with a smile. "I'd like to continue, please."

"Very well," Mr. Game said. "Proceeding to level 2!"

New cards were put on the board, and new numbers of Voltorb and points were given. Zora studied the board, first taking all the cards in the column with no Voltorbs in it. Afterwards she marked the cards where the number of points and Voltorb together made up five, having either a x1 or a Voltorb in that column, then she thought hard about what to do next.

Zora chose a card at random. It was a Voltorb, and her coins from that game were taken away. She sighed.

"Ooh, too bad," Mr. Game said and refreshed the cards. "Want to try level 2 again?"

"Yes please," Zora said and turned to Kale. "This could take a while."

Kale sighed too and settled down on the couch, barely able to fit because of his increased size, but just able to.

Zora failed four more games and won three of them before she had finally accumulated 200 coins and thus enough to buy an Abra. However, it was not just 200 coins, but 302 coins she had ended up with after winning three games, and she did not want to stop now. It was fun, and she was getting a hang of it. Plus, other than the Abra, there were three awesome special TMs she could buy for 30,000 coins in total…

Instead of ending right away, Zora spent another hour or two on playing more games, winning a total of forty-four games and losing another fifty-eight games before she noticed Kale had fallen asleep on the couch beside her. That's when she noticed it was way past one in the morning now, and even Mr. Game looked as if he was about to fall asleep. Strange, since gamers tended to stay up really late. Zora thought he would be used to this, but considering how only he and his two employees were present at the moment, perhaps he was not used to be busy like this.

Feeling tired herself, Zora decided to call it a day, waking up Kale and walking back to the Pokémon Center with him, her Coin Case now containing 5,271 coins. She first deposited Fly Boy into the PC again before she returned to the Game Corner, bought her Abra, named him Expeliamus, returned to the Pokémon Center, deposited him, took out Fly Boy again, and then went with Kale to the lounge, where the two of them settled in to take a night's sleep, keeping the rest of the team in their Poké Balls.

* * *

The next morning, Zora went straight back to the Game Corner and continued playing another fourty-nine games of Voltorb Flip, losing thirty of them and winning nineteen of them, before she had finally acquired 10,000 game coins. Now she was finally able to afford one of the three elemental special power moves. She did a lot of research before deciding to buy Thunderbolt, leaving her with only 20 game coins left.

As they left the Game Corner building, it was noon. Kale walked slowly beside her, totally drained of energy, just waiting around for his Trainer to be done with that gambling game. Zora wondered if he would be able to enter a battle, even if just to capture a new Pokémon.

"What's up, Kale?" Zora asked as they walked out of Goldenrod City and entered Route 34 to find a Drowzee.

"I'm bored," Kale muttered. "Why did you stay in there for so long? We could have gotten the next Badge by now…"

"I know," Zora said, a bit embarrassed now. "But at least now we've got Thunderbolt. There are no Pokémon in Johto that can learn Thunderbolt naturally. Plus Bambi has amazing special attack."

"So you're not going to try to get the other two moves?" Kale asked hopefully, but with very little enthusiasm.

"Probably not," Zora replied. "I did a bit more research today, and it seems Vulpix is the only Pokémon we can catch in Johto that learns Flamethrower without a TM, and we can get that easily, if we go some other places to catch certain other Pokémon first."

"Of course," Kale replied, his leaf hanging a bit.

"As for Ice Beam," Zora continued, stopping before entering the tall grass, "the only Pokémon we can really get and use for Ice Beam is Seel, but its evolution is not that good. We do have Goofy the Slowpoke though, and either of his evolutions would do great with Ice Beam."

"But Slowpoke doesn't learn Ice Beam by nature?" Kale asked confused.

"No," Zora admitted. "So I might at least do another round to get Ice Beam."

Kale groaned. Zora rolled her eyes.

" _But_ ," she then said, "there is a guy in Mt. Mortar who has some strong Fighting-type Pokémon that can learn elemental punches, such as Ice Punch. It's not as strong as Ice Beam, but still pretty strong, so we can get a Pokémon from him and raise it until it evolves and learns the elemental punches. That would do us great."

"Then what about Thunderbolt?" Kale asked. "Thunder Punch is one of the elemental punches, right?"

"Yes, but like I said, Bambi has great special attack, so we should definitely teach him Thunderbolt at some point…" She fell silent for a moment, then added quietly to herself: "… _if_ he survives, that is…"

Kale gazed somberly at Zora, then sighed. "Well, we'll worry about that when the time comes, right?" he said with a smile, trying to lift the mood. "Right now, we should worry about this Gym, right? And our new encounter here?"

Zora smiled back at her Bayleef. "Yes, you're right," she replied. "We'll catch ourselves a Drowzee here, then we'll go fight the Gym Trainers in the Gym, then we'll train you guys until you're as strong as Whitney's Miltank. Then we'll fight her. And win."

Kale nodded. "Well, let's find that Drowzee then!" he said. "I feel better now. I'll do my best to weaken it so you can catch it!"

"Glad to hear it."

Zora walked into the tall grass with Kale behind her. They found a TM in the grass and picked it up, learning it was called Embargo. Zora put it in her bag, and as she turned to the left, a Drowzee appeared out of nowhere.

"Whoa!" Zora exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that… Okay, Kale, use PoisonPowder to weaken it!"

"Got it," Kale said, but missed the attack.

Drowzee used Confusion, but it didn't do much to Kale. Zora sighed.

"Okay, maybe we should have Bambi paralyze it," Zora said. "Step back, Kale."

Kale sighed but stepped back and allowed Bambi to be sent out and face the wild Drowzee. It pounded Bambi but immediately got paralyzed by Static.

"I was planning to Thunder Wave it, but I guess this works too," Zora said with a shrug. "Okay, I'll try to catch it."

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Drowzee. It didn't even shake before breaking out. Zora hummed but wasn't worried. She had plenty of Poké Balls left, plus a few special ones.

"No worries, Bambi, I'll get it caught in a moment," Zora said after the Drowzee pounded Bambi again, and she threw another Poké Ball.

This time the ball shook twice before breaking free and using another Confusion on Bambi. Zora threw another Poké Ball. It shook three times, then clicked for capture.

"There we go," Zora said, not too concerned, and picked up the ball. "Another female. What to call her… Hmm… I think I'll call her… McGonagall. I think that's a nice name."

After naming the Drowzee McGonagall, the Poké Ball materialized its way back to the PC in the Pokémon Center. On their way out of the grass, they ran into another Drowzee which they just ran away from.

"Well, that went well," Kale said as they entered Goldenrod City again. "What now?"

"Now, we heal up and start preparing for the next Gym," Zora replied.

They entered the Pokémon Center and healed up, even though Kale and Bambi were barely hurt, and then they sat in the lounge to make plans.

"Alright, let's check our items," Zora said. "Plenty of Poké Balls, Potions and other medicine… Ew, we have a Revive, we should sell it right away. And, of course, we've got this Thunderbolt TM, just for you, Bambi."

Bambi looked ecstatic as Zora brought out the yellow disc. "I get to learn Thunderbolt?!" he exclaimed. "Sweet! Can I learn it right now? Can we replace ThunderShock please?"

"Sure thing," Zora said. "I was going to wait until we're ready to face the Gym Leader, but why not? It will only make you stronger. Here, just a moment."

Zora brought out Bambi's Poké Ball and inserted the TM into the currently empty ball. It slid in, and the ball started processing the data on the disc. ThunderShock was replaced with Thunderbolt, and the TM slid out again. Zora took it out and sighed as it broke in half.

"Such shoddy material," Zora commented. "Why can't TMs be of HM quality and not break? Oh well, at least this one got to great use… hopefully. You better not die, Bambi, ever."

Bambi smiled. "I won't," he promised. "Can I get in the ball now so I can learn it?"

"Yes, right away," Zora said.

Bambi returned into his Poké Ball and stayed there for about ten seconds before being brought out again. He seemed to be mindblown.

"This… this power!" he exclaimed. "It's… it's awesome! Are… are you really sure I'm worthy of such power?"

"You definitely are," Zora said with a smile. "You are one of the most valuable players on this team, and I intend to keep you alive and never let you die."

"What about us?" Dingbat asked. "Aren't you gonna keep us alive too?"

"Oh yes, of course," Zora said and smiled nervously at the rest of her team. "You are all valuable players. Bambi is just… I mean look at him! Look at how cute he is! We raised him from an egg! And now he's evolved! And he can evolve again!"

"I came from an egg too…" Omelet said. "Aren't you proud of me too?"

"Oh, of course I am!" Zora said and picked up Omelet for a hug. "I love you too, little Omelet! You are such a powerhouse, I didn't know it was possible! Then again, now the both of you possess really powerful moves at such a young age and low level, you're probably both going to beat most of our opponents easily for the moment. Things will get tougher as we get further on this journey though, so we have to keep training hard."

Zora put Omelet back on the couch next to Fly Boy.

"So what are we going to do now?" Fly Boy asked.

"Well, we should go to the Gym," Zora said, then paused for a moment. "…but I kind of want Ice Beam too…"

Kale looked as if someone slapped him. "No!" he exclaimed. "No more Game Corner! Please! Let's just move on!"

The others looked at him as if he was mad, and Zora looked surprised at him.

"Okay, okay, I can wait with Ice Beam until later," Zora said with her hands in front of her. "Or maybe not at all. We can make do with Ice Punch once we get the Pokémon that learns it."

Kale slumped his long neck onto the couch. Zora smiled and stroke him on the head.

"Come on, Kale, everyone," Zora said. "Let's go fight the Gym."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't judge me, Voltorb Flip is just so much fun once you figure out how the game works! There's a YouTube video explaining how it works if you wanna know. I could and would continue the "gambling", but I think my Pokémon are bored and want to battle and move on, so I'll just settle with Thunderbolt... ^^;
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 2  
> Live Pokémon: 16  
> Death counter: 0


	13. The Third Gym

After putting the others in their Poké Balls, Zora and Kale left the Pokémon Center together and headed to the Gym. This time Zora managed to pass by the Game Corner and actually get to the Gym entrance. When they arrived, however, a lady stood in front of the doors, blocking their way in.

"Uh, excuse me?" Zora said. "Can I pass?"

"Sorry, the Gym is currently closed," the lady replied. "The Gym Leader, Whitney, went flying by saying, "I have got to get a Radio Card!" So if I were you, I would check the Radio Tower to the west. Maybe if she sees you, she will remember that she runs a Gym and come back."

Zora sighed. "Fine, I'll do that," she said.

And so Zora and Kale turned around and went back to the first fork after walking under the bridge. They turned west, past the train station, and went for the black building next to it.

"This must be the Radio Tower," Zora said, then stopped. "Wait, isn't that a Team Rocket grunt standing over there?"

By the sign at the entrance, a person dressed in black with a black hat and a big red R on his shirt stood and stared at the Radio Tower. Zora decided to walk over to him, hearing he was talking to himself.

"So this is the Radio Tower…" the grunt muttered to himself. He noticed Zora was looking at him and turned to her, snarling. "What do you want, you pest? Scram!"

The grunt turned back to stare at the tower, and Zora shrugged. He wasn't actually doing anything wrong, so she couldn't make a scene at the moment. Instead, she and Kale went inside the Radio Tower.

As soon as they stepped inside, they were welcomed by the receptionist lady closest to the door. The next receptionist lady was in charge of the lottery, so Zora decided to draw a lottery ticket. It was a dud, and they moved on to the third receptionist lady, who ran a quiz.

"We have a special Quiz campaign!" the receptionist said. "Answer five questions correctly in a row to win a Radio Card! When you load it into the Pokégear, you will be able to listen to the radio… anytime, anywhere! Would you like to try our Quiz?"

"Sure," Zora said, eyeing a girl with pink hair scribbling something down on a sheet of paper, probably also taking the quiz. "I'll try it out."

The receptionist lady smiled and handed Zora a piece of paper, which she began scribbling down on. After she was finished, she handed over the paper for the lady to inspect. She read aloud:

"The first question! Can you check the Town Map with your Pokégear?"

"Yes," had Zora written down.

"You are correct. The second question! Nidorina can only be female. True?"

"Yes."

"You are correct. The third question! Kurt, the Poké Ball creator, uses apricots as ingredients?"

"No."

"You are correct again. The fourth question! It's impossible to use a TM on Magikarp. True?"

"Yes."

"Wow! I have only one more question to go. In Professor Oak's popular show, Pokémon Talk, is he on with Marie?"

"No," said the final answer.

The receptionist lady stared long at the answer. Then she smiled. "Bingo! You got it! Congratulations!"

Zora sighed of relief. _That last one was really a guess,_ she thought to herself.

"Here's your prize, a Radio Card!" the receptionist lady said and handed over a Radio Card to Zora.

Zora installed the radio function onto her Pokégear, and then put the card away. The girl with pink hair bounced excitedly from her spot and sprinted over to Zora around the corner of the table.

"Wow, you did it!" the girl exclaimed. "I thought the answer to the third question was surely apricots!"

"I almost chose that answer myself," Zora said with a smile. "I'm Zora."

Instead of answering her, the girl simply looked at her wristwatch and cringed. "Oops! It's time to go back to the Gym!"

With that, the girl wandered off out of the tower. Zora and Kale stared after her.

"Back to the Gym?" Kale repeated. "Then she must be…"

"Whitney, the Gym Leader of Goldenrod City," Zora ended for him. "She looks pretty young for a Gym Leader. Maybe she's just starting out?"

Kale looked confused at Zora as they left the Radio Tower as well, passing the Rocket grunt from before. "I thought you had researched her and her Pokémon."

"I have, but I haven't seen what she actually looks like before," Zora admitted. "I haven't seen most of the Gym Leaders before on actual images… or maybe I have but I've forgotten them?"

Zora giggled nervously and scratched the back of her head, while Kale seemed about to fall over by the response. They decided to let it be and just go to the Gym.

When they arrived, the lady from before had left, and now the Gym was open and accessible. They went inside… and were met by walls and floors of pink and sky blue, as if the entire Gym was a big nursery or kindergarten.

"Well, we're only going to be here for a little bit," Zora said as she looked at the soft colors. "Alright, I think I will have Crisper out first to take out the first Gym Trainer. Once we're done with them, we'll train up until you all are level nineteen. After that, we'll take on Whitney."

"Sounds like a plan," Kale said. "I'll see you later, then."

Zora nodded and returned Kale into his Poké Ball, instead sending out Crisper, who began following after Zora, one hand in front of the other. They went up the stairs and went north to face the first Gym Trainer. She had three Sentret, two of which Crisper handled with Rock Smash before rising in level.

As Trainer Victoria sent out her third and last Sentret, Zora decided to send in Fly Boy to get some experience, as Crisper was now ready for Whitney. The Sentret used Quick Attack but didn't do much damage. Fly Boy used Gust and did about the same amount of damage. Then Fly Boy used Quick Attack and did more damage than before, followed by him getting hit by another Quick Attack. His next Quick Attack landed a critical hit and took out the Sentret.

With the first Gym Trainer beat, Zora decided to return Crisper to her Poké Ball and bring out Omelet instead to walk with her. They walked around the ledge and went down the next stairs, going around a corner, under an arch, and faced the next Gym Trainer.

This Trainer had two Meowth, the first of which scratched and bit Omelet. Omelet took it out with two Extransensories. But he had gotten a bit bruised, so Zora decided to send in Bambi for more experience and to take out the second Meowth. Now Bambi got to test out his Thunderbolt for the first time.

After the Meowth scratched Bambi and got paralyzed by Static, Bambi launched a Thunderbolt, and the Meowth was taken out in a single hit. Bambi gasped.

"It's so powerful!" Bambi exclaimed. "Thank you for teaching it to me, Zora!"

Zora smiled widely. "It went well," she said. "Though the Meowth was faster than you and landed its attack first. That could be a problem in the future. We need to train up your speed more."

Bambi's smile seemed to fade a bit, but then he shook his head and put it back on. Zora decided to call both Bambi and Omelet back, instead sending out Kale to take care of the next Gym Trainer. They went past the stairs from before, went around another corner, went through another arch and faced the third Trainer.

This Trainer only had a Snubbull, but it intimidated Kale as they faced each other. Kale's Razor Leaf didn't do much damage, and the Snubbull made a Scary Face, making Kale uncomfortable and slower.

"Use PoisonPowder," Zora ordered. "So it at least takes some damage occasionally."

Kale missed his PoisonPowder, and the Snubbull responded by licking him, creeping him out. It licked him again, and this time Kale got paralyzed. Nonetheless, he managed to land his next PoisonPowder and poisoned the Snubbull. The Snubbull licked and bit Kale again, but Kale managed to take it out with another two Razor Leaves and damage from poison. The Gym Trainer was beat, and they moved on.

Zora decided to switch out Kale with Dingbat, the only one who hadn't been battling in the Gym so far, and to give Kale a little rest. They went forth and faced the last Gym Trainer, who had three Jigglypuff.

Dingbat used a strong Wing Attack on the first Jigglypuff, but it immediately put him to sleep with Sing. Zora sighed in annoyance and used an Awakening on him. Right in that moment, the Jigglypuff disabled Dingbat's Wing Attack, making Zora sigh again.

"Use Bite!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat bit the Jigglypuff and knocked it out. He stayed in battle as the second Jigglypuff came out. He missed a Supersonic and got pounded, but the next Supersonic hit and confused the Jigglypuff. To Zora's satisfaction, it punched itself in the face, allowing Dingbat to land another two Bites and take it out.

As the last Jigglypuff came out, Dingbat missed another Supersonic, but landed the second one again as the Jigglypuff only used Defense Curl. Getting confused, the Jigglypuff hurt itself, and Dingbat bit it to do more damage. With another punch in its own face and two more Bites from Dingbat, the Jigglypuff was defeated, and the last Gym Trainer had been beat. Now there was only Whitney left.

They ran out of the Gym and all the way back to the Pokémon Center. They healed up and left again.

Instead of returning to the Gym right away, however, they instead returned to Route 34 to train up the team. Zora started training Dingbat, and after defeating two Drowzee and a Rattata, Dingbat was ready for the Gym.

Afterwards, Zora trained up Omelet, having him defeat two Drowzee and two Rattata before also being ready, although Bambi helped with the last Drowzee as Omelet's only damaging move was Extrasensory.

After that, Bambi got trained and took out another six Drowzee and a Rattata before being strong enough. After that it was Kale's turn. He beat three Drowzee and four Rattata when he was done training.

Finally it was Fly Boy's turn to train. After defeating three Drowzee, he evolved into Pidgeotto, and after beating another four Drowzee, a Rattata, and a Ditto, he too was ready for the Gym.

Now that the whole team was trained and on par with each other, Zora led them back to Goldenrod City, healed up at the Pokémon Center, brought Crisper out in the front, and returned to the Gym.

They went through the maze until they arrived at Whitney's spot, where she stood waiting for them. She smiled at their arrival.

"Hi! I'm Whitney!" she greeted, then gasped as she got a better look at Zora. "…You! I saw you at the Radio Tower just now."

"…That was a while ago now," Zora said quietly.

"Everyone was into Pokémon, so I got into it, too!" Whitney continued. "Pokémon are super cute! You want to battle? I'm warning you – I'm good!"

Whitney took out a Poké Ball and threw it, sending out her Clefairy. Zora gulped, nervous about this opponent.

 _If it uses Metronome, it could use anything from a useless Water Sport to a deadly Horn Drill or Hydro Pump,_ she thought anxiously. _Please, luck be with me!_

"Crisper, use Magnitude!" Zora ordered.

"Use Metronome!" Whitney ordered.

The Clefairy wagged its finger… and used Slack Off, which missed. Zora sighed of relief. Crisper managed to land a Magnitude 9, almost knocking the Clefairy out, but not entirely.

"Another Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

But before Crisper landed her Magnitude 7, Whitney whipped out a Super Potion and immediately healed up her Clefairy to full health. Magnitude only brought it back down to half health. Zora took a deep breath.

"One more Magnitude should do it," Zora said.

"Use Metronome!" Whitney said.

Zora held her breath. Clefairy wagged its finger… and used Vine Whip.

"No, no, no," Zora said, feeling adrenaline pumping through her body.

The Vine Whip hit… but barely did any damage to Crisper. Zora exhaled in relief, not even getting to see what power Crisper's last Magnitude was before the Clefairy was taken out.

"H-hey, just one left?" Whitney said in disbelief as she called back her Clefairy. "But… I ain't losing, you hear?"

Whitney sent out her Miltank, her ace. But Zora was not worried anymore. The real danger had been taken care of, and now Crisper merely had to take Miltank's Stomp and Rollout while she repeatedly used Rock Smash on it.

Except Stomp did a little more damage than Zora would have liked, so Zora decided to heal up Crisper before Miltank used another Stomp. Despite getting stomped to half her remaining health, Crisper managed to use another three Rock Smashes to finally take out Whitney's Miltank and grow to level twenty. Zora sighed of relief. Whitney had been beaten, and…

"Waaaaah!" Whitney cried out, surprising Zora and Crisper. "Waaaaah! …Snivel, hic… You meanie!"

With tears in her eyes and making a rather scary face, Zora and Crisper backed off to give her some space, but they were quickly stopped by one of the Gym Trainers.

"Oh no," she said. "You made Whitney cry. It's okay. She'll stop soon. She always cries when she loses."

The Gym Trainer returned to her spot, and Zora and Crisper shared a skeptical look before going back to Whitney to get the badge. She seemed to be about calm now.

"Sniff…" she sobbed. "What? What do you want?"

"Uh… a Badge?" Zora implied carefully.

"A Badge?" Whitney repeated confused for a moment. "Oh, right. I forgot. Here's the Plain Badge."

Whitney handed over the third Gym Badge to Zora, who accepted it and put it in the Badge case with the others.

"The Plain Badge lets your Pokémon use Strength outside of battle," Whitney explained, seemingly done with crying now, back to her happy self again. "Oh, you can have this, too!"

Whitney handed over a TM labeled TM45. "It's Attract!" Whitney explained excitedly. "It makes full use of a Pokémon's charm. Isn't it just perfect for a cutie like me?"

"Uh, sure," Zora replied.

"That's right!" Whitney said, apparently remembering something. "I heard that this thing called the Pokéathlon Dome is now open right next to the National Park. You should go try it, since you're so good at battling with your Pokémon!"

Zora hummed in thought. "Maybe I will," she said. "Thanks, Whitney, bye!"

* * *

Zora and Crisper left the Gym together and returned to the Pokémon Center immediately to heal up. After that was done, Zora brought out Kale again, and they went exploring the city.

"Well, that went well," Kale said with a smile.

"Yes, it did," Zora said. "I was very concerned about that Clefairy, but it seemed luck was on my side after all."

"So what are we doing now?"

"I think we should check out that flower shop next to the Gym. And maybe check out the Bike Shop as well. It would be nice to be able to go faster with a Bike."

"I suppose."

They went to the Flower Shop and talked to the flower girl running the business. She talked about an odd tree on Route 36, which they had seen for themselves, saying it would dance when it gets watered. She noticed Zora's new Plain Badge and gave her a SquirtBottle for free to keep. Afterwards they went down to the Bike Shop and talked to the man selling them. He seemed sad somehow.

"Sigh… I opened a branch here, but I can't sell my Bicycles," he said. "Why is that? Could you ride a Bicycle and advertise for me?"

Zora smiled. "A free Bicycle?" she implied. "I'm in. I'll advertise like no one has advertised before."

"Really? Great! Give me your name and phone number, and I'll loan you a Bicycle."

"Oh, loan," Zora said and smiled embarrassed. "Right, here."

Zora gave the Bicycle Man her phone number, and in return he gave her a foldable bike that could fit in her bag. As they got outside, she immediately unfolded the bike and got up on it.

"Finally!" she said. "Kale, get back in your ball and we'll go for a ride!"

"Okay," Kale said and returned to his Poké Ball.

Zora rushed through Goldenrod City on her new bike, passing by lots of people and advertising for the Bike Shop. After doing that for about ten minutes, she went back to the fork leading to the Gym and got off her bike again, putting it back in her bag. She called out Kale again.

"Wasn't that fun, Kale?" Zora asked with a grin.

"Eh, sure?" Kale said unsure. "I'm not sure, actually, it felt the same inside the Poké Ball…"

"Oh, right."

"So what now?"

"Right, now we have to…" Zora looked at the map on her Pokégear. "…head to Ecruteak City. That's where the fourth Gym is. It's a Ghost-type Gym, so we'll have to do some preparations before we challenge it."

"Do we have another encounter before we reach the city?" Kale asked.

"Yes, four, in fact," Zora replied excitedly. "One in Route 35, one in Route 36, one in Route 37 and one in the National Park."

"Wow, that's a lot," Kale said impressed. "What can we get in those places?"

"Let's see," Zora said and brought out her notes, still standing in the middle of the street. "In Route 35 we can get a Nidoran, either a male or a female. If we get at least one of the two, we can avoid any future encounters with the other gender."

"Makes sense, since they _are_ the same species," Kale said. "What else?"

"Well, on Route 36 we can get a Vulpix if we catch a Nidoran in Route 35. We could also get a Stantler, but if we do, we can still get a Vulpix in Route 37, where Stantler also lives. We're probably getting both, either way. Though in Route 35 there is also a small chance we could run into a Ditto or a Yanma, but those are pretty rare."

"And what about the National Park?" Kale asked.

"We can get a Sunkern there, while the sun is still up," Zora said, looking at the sky, which was slowly getting darker. "Which means we don't have all that much time. If we don't get to the park before sunset, we can only catch a Hoothoot there."

"Well, guess we better get going then?" Kale implied.

"You bet," Zora said and put her Pokégear and notes away. "Let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got the third badge, yay! I was mostly worried about the Clefairy, but it went well, as you know. Despite Crisper resisting Stomp, Miltank did do more damage than I thought it would, so I was a bit worried, but everything turned out well in the end. Now to catch more Pokémon!
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 3  
> Live Pokémon: 16  
> Death counter: 0


	14. Gotta Catch 'Em All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not really, but y'know...

Before they left Goldenrod City, Zora stopped by the Department Store to buy some more Poké Balls, medicine and whatever else they needed for their journey. She sold her Revive and bought ten Great Balls, two Poké Dolls and two Escape Ropes before leaving, not having much money left.

"Didn't even give me a bonus Premier Ball," Zora grumbled as they exited the Department Store. "You give me one when I buy ten Poké Balls but not Great Balls…"

"It's just a Premier Ball," Kale said, trying to cheer Zora up, but it didn't help much.

"Let's just go," Zora said. "We have Pokémon to catch."

They went north and left Goldenrod City, entering Route 35. They ran into a camper who wanted to battle. She had a Vulpix, but it was too weak to know any damaging Fire-type moves, so Zora let Kale take it out with two Headbutts. They beat the Trainer and took her money before moving on.

They went around the lake and stopped as Zora spotted two Trainers standing together, keeping a lookout.

"I smell a double battle," Zora said quietly and kept her distance, instead bringing out her notes. "If I'm not mistaken… Hmm, it's not safe to say. Let's go around them for now and fight the lone camper over there."

Zora and Kale carefully walked around the two campers, avoiding detection, instead facing against a lone camper that kept lookout in the direction the two others weren't. He had two Digletts and a Zubat.

Kale missed his first Razor Leaf on the first Diglett, but the next one hit after a weak Astonish from the Diglett, and it was taken out. Zora decided to switch in Bambi when the camper's Zubat was sent out, and he one-shot it with Thunderbolt. Kale was sent out again to take care of the last Diglett with a Razor Leaf. The camper was beat and his money taken.

"Alright, now I know which Pokémon these two others have," Zora said as she walked away from the lone camper. "One of them has a Pikachu, the other has a Sandshrew and a Marill. We could take out the Pikachu with a Magnitude… but that would cause damage to one of you as well. I could have Dingbat or Fly Boy out… but Pikachu could take either of them out with a ThunderShock…"

"Can't we just fight them one on one?" Kale asked.

"We can try," Zora said. "I'll have Crisper fight the girl with the Pikachu."

After sending Crisper out, Zora went behind the camper girl and poked her on the shoulder. The girl turned around and immediately sent out her Pikachu, which Crisper took out with a single Magnitude 7. The girl was beat, and now Zora could defeat her boyfriend with Kale, taking out both his Sandshrew and Marill with Razor Leaf.

With the campers beat, Zora moved on and spotted a juggler ahead. She checked her notes and found he had four Voltorb, one of them with Explosion, so she decided to have Crisper out in front again to take them all on. Crisper used Magnitude 4 on the first two, weakest Voltorb, then a Magnitude 7 at the third Voltorb after using SonicBoom at her, and finally Magnitude 6 on the last, strongest Voltorb, which only used a weak Tackle that practically didn't do anything. The juggler was beat, and Zora took his money.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with the juggler and healing up Crisper, Zora moved on and faced a firebreather with two Magmar. Crisper used a Magnitude 8 to take out the first Magmar, then a Magnitude 7 to almost take out the second one. Crisper got burned by Ember but managed to land another Magnitude 7 to take out the Magmar and win the battle.

After Crisper learned Rollout and forgot Defense Curl, Zora declined the firebreather's offer on exchanging phone numbers and decided to return to the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City to heal up before they moved on. After eating another meal and getting outside, Zora saw to her small disappointment that the sun had set and darkness had fallen.

"Great, now we can't get a Sunkern," Zora grumbled. "Though maybe that's not too bad either. We might as well go to the National Park right away and just get the Hoothoot encounter over with. Let's go."

* * *

They returned to Route 35 with Omelet in the front to get more experience. They ran into a police officer who wanted to fight, so Zora engaged him in battle.

He had two Growlithe, the first of which Omelet took out with three Extrasensories, though not without getting burned by two Embers. Zora decided to send in Bambi to take care of the second Growlithe with a single Thunderbolt. The officer was cool with losing the battle and let Zora pass, though she decided to return to the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod yet again to heal up before moving on.

This was quickly done by bike, and they soon arrived in the gate leading to the National Park. They met a lady with a Persian who gave them a Quick Claw – much to Zora's delight – and went to the tall grass to find a Pokémon. Zora made sure to keep Bambi in the front for paralysis, and they immediately ran into a Hoothoot.

"Okay, Bambi, use Thunder Wave," Zora said.

The Thunder Wave landed and paralyzed the Hoothoot, making it unable to move. Zora threw a Poké Ball at it. It shook three times and clicked for capture immediately.

"Excellent," Zora said and picked up the ball. "It's a male, for once. I will name him Ulric."

"An actual normal name?" Bambi remarked.

"Not everything has to have a weird name," Zora said. "Well, at least now we got the Hoothoot out of the way. Let's return to Route 35 and get us something new."

"Okay," Bambi replied.

They left the National Park and returned to Route 35, running into the tall grass. The first thing they encountered was an Abra, which they couldn't run away from… after which it teleported away. Zora shrugged and moved on through the grass.

The next thing they ran into was a male Nidoran. Zora smiled.

"Alright, we can catch this," she said. "Use Thunder Wave, Bambi."

Bambi paralyzed the Nidoran with Thunder Wave, making it unable to move. Zora threw a Poké Ball at it. It shook twice before breaking out, but was still unable to move. Zora threw another Poké Ball. This time it shook three times and clicked for capture.

"Good," Zora said and picked up the ball. "He could be useful later, maybe. I will name him… Wade."

The Poké Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora and Bambi exited the grass to go through the gate again and return to the National park. They ran along the dirt path and avoided the tall grass, which had Trainers in it, instead going through the east gate and entered Route 36.

"Alright, we have a new encounter here," Zora said after plucking an Apricorn. "But it looks like we'll have to fight through some Trainers here first. There's a psychic right there. I think he has two Abra and a Kadabra. The Abra aren't dangerous, but the Kadabra could be. We can have Dingbat take out the Abra, and then Kale can take out the Kadabra. He has the highest special defense on the team."

"Okay," Bambi said. "Good luck."

Zora switched Bambi with Dingbat and confronted the psychic. Dingbat easily took care of the two Abra with one Bite each. As the psychic sent in his Kadabra, Zora sent out Kale to Headbutt it. The Kadabra used Confusion, which Kale was able to take little damage of and almost knock out the Kadabra with Headbutt. With another Headbutt and some damage from a second Confusion, the Kadabra was taken out, and the psychic was beat.

"There's only one other Trainer on this Route, it seems," Zora informed Dingbat as they moved on, Kale having returned to his Poké Ball. "And he only has a Tangela. You should be able to take care of it, Dingbat."

"I will," Dingbat said confidently.

They eventually found a school kid, which was the one with the Tangela. Dingbat did much damage with Wing Attack, but not enough to get it below half health. In return, the Tangela used Sleep Powder to put Dingbat to sleep. Zora kept calling Dingbat's name until he woke up and used another Wing Attack to almost knock out the Tangela. With another Wing Attack, it was taken out, and the school kid was beaten.

Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with him, and now that there were no more Trainers on this route to beat, Zora brought out Bambi again so they could catch their new encounter.

They walked around in the grass until they encountered a Vulpix. Zora restrained herself from screaming of joy.

"A Vulpix!" she exclaimed. "Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave!"

Bambi paralyzed the Vulpix with Thunder Wave, but the Vulpix was able to use a Tail Whip. Zora threw a Poké Ball at the fire fox. It shook twice before breaking free. Zora threw another Poké Ball. It shook three times… then broke out.

"Come on, please, I really want a Vulpix!" Zora said and threw a third Poké Ball.

It didn't even shake before breaking free. Zora threw another ball. It broke free again without shaking. Another ball. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora threw her arms in the air in victory.

"Yes!" she exclaimed and picked up the Poké Ball. "Aw, it's a male. Oh well, it's still a Fire-type. I'll call him… Tails."

"Really?" Bambi remarked. "Because he has a lot of tails?"

"Why not?"

The Poké Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora and Bambi moved on. Suddenly Zora got a call from the Bike Shop and took it.

"Hello?" Zora said.

" _Oh, hey, this is the Bike Shop!_ " the Bicycle Man said. " _I've been selling a lot of Bikes lately!_ "

"Oh, good for you," Zora replied.

" _It's because you've been riding around on that Bike advertising for me! I was wondering how best to thank you, and I thought I'd just give you that Bicycle you're riding around. It's yours! Thanks so much!_ "

"You're welcome," Zora replied. "And thank you too."

The man hung up, and Zora put her Pokégear away. She smiled down at Bambi. "Looks like I got a free bike after all. Alright, let's move on."

They moved up some stairs and found a girl standing and staring at the strange tree they had seen earlier on the same route.

"Hey," Zora said. "I'm Zora. Who are you?"

"I'm the Flower Shop's Floria," the girl introduced herself. "Listen, listen! When I sprinkled water on that wiggly tree, it jumped right up! It just has to be a Pokémon. If you soaked it… Oh, that's the SquirtBottle! Soak the tree for me! I want to see what happens!"

Zora looked between the tree and Bambi. She stood in front of the tree and gazed at it in thought.

"I'm not certain whether I can catch this or not," she wondered. "I mean, it's just standing there, and if I don't use it, just keeping it in the box until I can lift this curse of mine…"

"We could try," Bambi voiced. "Won't hurt, will it?"

Zora hummed. "Either way, this thing has to go. Let's do this."

Zora pulled out the SquirtBottle and started soaking the tree with water. The tree cried out and jumped. It didn't the water. The tree dropped its disguise and turned out to be a Sudowoodo.

"Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave!" Zora ordered.

Bambi paralyzed the Sudowoodo, and it began flailing at Bambi. Zora threw a Great Ball, knowing it wouldn't be as easily caught as the other Pokémon they had so far.

It broke out immediately, but it was unable to attack because of the paralysis.

"Okay, I'll try another one," Zora said and threw another Great Ball.

It shook once before breaking free this time. The Sudowoodo used a Low Kick on Bambi and got a critical hit, doing a good amount of damage, worrying Zora. She healed him up, after which the Sudowoodo used Rock Throw, doing more damage. Zora sighed.

"Well, we already have an encounter here anyway," she said. "Use Thunderbolt and just take it out, Bambi."

Bambi looked disappointed but nonetheless used a Thunderbolt on the Sudowoodo. It didn't get to half health though, and threw another rock at Bambi, getting him to a dangerous health level. Zora cringed.

"Bambi, get back," Zora said and took out a Poké Ball. "Crisper, go!"

Crisper was sent out, but the Sudowoodo launched a Low Kick at her. Luckily it didn't do much damage, but Zora knew it was too dangerous to try catch it.

"Use Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

Crisper launched a Magnitude 7, which almost knocked out the Sudowoodo, but not entirely. Furthermore, it was rendered unable to attack because of the paralysis. Zora felt her heart racing.

"Maybe we can catch it after all," she said. "I'll try another Great Ball."

She threw a Great Ball at the Sudowoodo. It broke free immediately and threw a rock at Crisper, which did more damage than Zora liked. She healed up Crisper again. But then Sudowoodo used Mimic and learned Magnitude, which very much worried Zora.

"No, we can't catch it," she decided. "Use Magnitude and take it out! Quickly, before it does the same!"

Crisper immediately launched another Magnitude 7 and took out the Sudowoodo. Zora felt her shoulder slump as the Pokémon fainted, followed by it slowly crawling away into the woods. This was the first time a capture had failed, though without it being the first encounter in an area.

"We can… always find another one, right?" Bambi asked as Crisper was returned to her Poké Ball.

"I… don't think so," Zora replied somberly. "At least not without getting it from another region, maybe. Sudowoodo are very shy and uncommon, plus they look like trees, which makes it even harder to find them. I don't think we'll encounter another wild Sudowoodo again."

"Oh…" Bambi's ears and tail slumped as well at the news. "Well, at least no one died. That's the important thing, right?"

Zora looked down at the Flaaffy and smiled, patting him on the head. "Right," she said. "That's the most important thing. I mean, I wouldn't use it anyway, it doesn't matter."

The girl from before walked up to them, not having heard what Zora had talked with her Pokémon about.

"That was fun!" she said, startling Zora, who had forgotten she was there. "I want to give you this for entertaining me!"

The entertained Floria handed over Zora some Berry Pots, which she accepted and put in her Key Items pocket, though not without giving her a subtle judgmental look, which she didn't catch.

"With the Berry Pots, you can grow any Berry from any region with no worries! That's right! I'll give you some Berries, too. Berry Pots won't do any good without Berries."

The Floria handed over some Oran Berries and Pecha Berries to Zora, who put them in her Berry pocket.

"You have to plant Berries in the soil," the Floria explained. "You should water them from time to time. Then they'll grow strong!"

"Thanks," Zora said. "I'll make good use of this."

The Floria nodded. "I have to go back to Goldenrod," she said. "Are you heading for Ecruteak?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," Zora replied.

"Then you should go north of here. See you around!"

With that, the Floria left, heading back to Goldenrod City, leaving Zora and her team in the fork between the paths to Goldenrod, Violet and Ecruteak. Zora checked her map.

"We're not far from Violet City," she said. "We should probably go there and heal up before we head for Ecruteak City."

"Okay," Bambi said.

* * *

They arrived in Violet City in no time at all. They broke a rock on the way to the Pokémon Center, finding a Max Ether inside, then went to heal up the team. Zora then decided to go to the lounge and make new plans with the team.

"Alright, everyone," Zora said. "Since we have Headbutt, we now have the ability to get encounters in towns and cities like this one. However, we won't be doing that yet, since the Pokémon roaming the trees can be weak or much stronger than we are right now. So we should wait with encounters in settlements at least until we get the ability to fly."

"So what, until then we just keep running in the grass and beat Gyms?" Fly Boy asked.

"Pretty much," Zora replied. "Now we'll be going to Ecruteak City. We'll catch a Pokémon on Route 37 on the way there. It will probably just be a Stantler, since anything else we can encounter in Route 37 are things we've already caught."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Dingbat said. "Let's go already!"

"Well, it's late," Zora said. "We should rest up for the night and then continue tomorrow."

"Why can't we just go to Ecruteak City and rest there?" Omelet suggested.

Zora hummed. "I mean, I guess we could," she said. "If you guys are up for it."

"We are," everyone said in unison.

Zora chuckled by the response. "Very well then," she replied. "We'll move on just until Ecruteak City's Pokémon Center. Let's go."

With everyone in their Poké Balls except for Bambi, Zora left the Pokémon Center, stopped by the Poké Mart to buy ten extra Poké Balls and a Premier Ball, and then exited Violet City, entering Route 36 and heading north to Route 37. She found a Hyper Potion on the ground before entering the tall grass for their new encounter.

They ran into a Stantler, the only Pokémon they could catch on this route.

"How convenient of it to appear right away," Zora commented. "Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave."

The wild Stantler used Stomp and did some damage, but Bambi managed to land a Thunder Wave on it and paralyze it. Zora threw a Great Ball at it, and it caught immediately. Zora picked up the ball.

"A female," she remarked. "What to call her… Maggie."

The Great Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and the team moved on. Zora brought Kale in the front to prepare for Trainer battles.

The first Trainers Zora faced was a pair of twins standing under a tree. They sent out a Marill and a Mareep, so Zora sent out Kale and Omelet to take them on.

Kale used Razor Leaf and took both of them out in one hit, ending the battle without Omelet even getting a chance to land a hit on either. After taking their money, Zora went on and faced the next Trainer, a psychic with a Drowzee. Kale took it out with two Razor Leaves and beat the psychic.

Zora went through the tall grass and plucked three Apricorns from trees, then remembered she had Berry Pots and decided to plant some berries in them. She decided to plant a Rawst Berry, a Pecha Berry and two Oran Berries, then watered them.

"It will definitely be easier to take care of them since I'm carrying them with me," Zora remarked. "Instead of having to run around the region to look for the spot where I planted them. Highly convenient."

They ran out of the tall grass again without encountering anything, then went to face the next pair of Trainers in another forced double battle. It was a pair of beauties, each with a Clefable and a Wigglytuff. Zora was worried about the Clefable as she knew they had Metronome.

She decided to have Dingbat and Crisper in the front, so when they entered the battle against the first Wigglytuff and Clefable, Crisper could use Magnitude without Dingbat getting hurt, since he was a Flying-type and thus immune.

Dingbat weakened the Clefable with Wing Attack. It used Metronome but thankfully it gave it Calm Mind. Crisper used Magnitude 7 which took out the Clefable but left the Wigglytuff with half its remaining health. The Wigglytuff pounded Crisper, and the other Wigglytuff was sent out alongside its comrade.

Dingbat weakened the new Wigglytuff with another Wing Attack, and Crisper weakened them further with another Magnitude 7, but not quite knocking them out. Dingbat took out one Wigglytuff with Wing Attack, and Crisper took out the other with yet another Magnitude 7.

The other Clefable came out, and Dingbat used Wing Attack on it. The Clefable used Metronome and landed Barrage in four hits on Dingbat, but thankfully it didn't do much and only got him to half health. Crisper took out the Clefable with one last Magnitude 7, and the two beauties were defeated.

"No more Trainers in this route," Zora said as she brought out Kale in the front again. "Now we just have to walk the rest of the way to Ecruteak City and get some rest."

"Sounds good to me," Kale said. "I'm exhausted."

They went through the last patch of tall grass without encountering anything, and they immediately went inside the Pokémon Center to heal up and rest.

However, as they entered, they saw the desk was occupied by a young man. Zora walked over, and he turned around as he noticed her presence.

"Hi, I'm Bill," he greeted. "And who are you?"

"I'm Zora," Zora greeted. "I'm a Pokémon Trainer."

"Hmm, Zora, huh?" Bill replied. "You know what? I'm the one who developed the system to transfer Pokémon. But it couldn't have been done by me alone. For example, do you know the Hoenn region? This girl Lanette from Hoenn made the Pokémon Storage System easier to use. My friends all over the world are working together to improve the Pokémon trade and storage systems."

"Oh, cool," Zora said with a smile.

Bill left the desk and walked past Zora. "I have to hurry on back to Goldenrod and see my folks," he informed and waved with a smile. "Buh-bye!"

With that, he left the Pokémon Center. Zora fell in thought. "Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, that Bill has something I want," she said. "And I intend to get that tomorrow. Before we enter the Gym."

Zora healed up her team and then went to the lounge with Kale.

"Let's rest up for the night, Kale," Zora said. "We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Can't wait," Kale replied.

They bundled up together on the couch, and within minutes, the tired Trainer and Bayleef fell asleep, everyone else tucked comfortably in their Poké Balls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 3  
> Live Pokémon: 20  
> Death counter: 0


	15. A Familiar Face

The next morning, Zora did as she said she would and left Ecruteak City, heading back to Goldenrod City where Bill supposedly lived. She ran from every wild Pokémon they encountered and got back to Goldenrod without a problem.

Before looking for Bill's house, Zora first went to the Pokémon Center and deposited Fly Boy into the PC, so she could get the Pokémon Bill had. Fly Boy was placed next to Bushy and Dummy, and Zora left the Pokémon Center again.

After searching for a bit, she eventually found Bill's house and entered. She went directly to Bill, who sat by a table with his mother. Bill smiled when Zora approached him, as if expecting her.

"Hi, Zora!" Bill greeted. "Would you do something for me and take this Eevee? It came over when I was adjusting Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Someone has to take care of it, but I don't like being outside."

 _What a surprise,_ Zora thought sarcastically, but didn't say it out loud.

"Can I count on you to play with it, Zora?" Bill asked.

"Of course," Zora said with a smile. "I'll take good care of it."

Bill smiled. "I knew you'd come through! You're the real deal! Way to go! Okay, I'm counting on you. Take good care of it!"

Bill handed over a Poké Ball containing the Eevee, and Zora accepted it. She called it out, and it squeaked at her.

"A male," she remarked with a smile. "I'll call you Coco."

Coco smiled at Zora and leapt onto her lap. "Coco," he repeated. "I like it! I'm Coco, nice to meet you!"

Zora chuckled and pat Coco on the head. Bill smiled at the sight.

"Professor Elm said Eevee can evolve into seven different kinds of Pokémon!" Bill informed. "Though from what I've heard, only five of these Pokémon can be obtained in this region."

"That's alright," Zora replied. "I already know which one to evolve him into. Thanks, Bill. See you around. Come on, Coco, Kale."

Zora left Bill's house with Kale and Coco following behind her. They returned to the Pokémon Center to introduce Coco to the whole team.

"Welcome to the team, Coco," Crisper greeted. "Hope you're sturdy."

"Can't wait to see what you've got, kiddo," Dingbat said.

"I'm Omelet," Omelet greeted with a big smile. "I hope we can be friends!"

"Me too," Coco replied. "But… can the Trainer understand us?"

"I can," Zora replied. "I guess I should explain why."

Zora and the team began explaining to Coco about the Nuzlocke condition and their journey to lift the curse. He seemed a bit concerned at the end of the explanation.

"I… I'll do my best, I guess," Coco said. "It's hard to believe though… Have you lost anyone yet?"

"No, thankfully not," Zora said with a smile. "Everyone's still alive. You can be of great use to us, Coco, so I'm going to keep you on the team."

"Wait, does that mean Fly Boy is staying in the box now?" Bambi asked. "Are we leaving him behind?"

"He's safe in there," Zora assured. "But you will see him again. Once we get the HM for Fly, we'll use Fly Boy to get around in the region."

"You mean… Fly Boy is going to be a… like Dummy?" Kale drawled out.

"Pretty much," Zora replied. "It might not seem right, but it's for the best."

Zora looked around at the team, having more to talk to them about. "Now that we have Coco on the team, we have more things to do. Firstly, we need to go back to Violet City."

"Why's that?" Dingbat asked.

"There's a guy who will give us berries in exchange for shards. We have a few shards, but we'll need to get more, so we'll have to smash some more rocks in Violet City to get them. Once we've got a Leppa Berry, a Lum Berry and a Sitrus Berry, we'll leave and return to Ecruteak to prepare for the Gym."

"Well, then let's go to Violet City," Kale said.

Zora nodded and returned the Pokémon to their Poké Balls, leaving only Crisper out. "Let's go."

* * *

Zora and Crisper ran all the way back to Violet City without running in any tall grass. Once there, Zora remembered the Berry Pots and checked them. She watered them, followed by plucking two Rawst Berries and two Pecha Berries. The Oran Berry trees had only just bloomed, so they were left be.

Zora checked how many shards they had at the moment. Two Yellow Shards and one Green Shard.

"We need at least one Red Shard," Zora informed. "Then we'll trade them for berries. Come on, Crisper, let's smash some rocks."

"Yeah, let's smash rocks!" Crisper exclaimed with excitement.

They began smashing rocks, crushing a total of seventeen rocks before finally getting a Red Shard. Furthermore, they had gained two Yellow Shards, one Green Shard, one Blue Shard, three Revives, one Heart Scale and one Max Ether, the rest having nothing in them.

After getting the Red Shard, Zora immediately went and found the guy who wanted shards in exchange for berries. She gave him the Blue Shard, and he gave her an Oran Berry, a Chesto Berry and a Wiki Berry in exchange. She then gave him the Red Shard and got a Cheri Berry, a Pecha Berry and a Leppa Berry. She traded her Yellow Shards in exchange for four Aspear Berries, four Sitrus Berries and four Iapapa Berries, and in exchange for her Green Shards, she got two Rawst Berries, two Lum Berries and two Aguav Berries.

Having the berries, she decided to plant her Chesto Berry and Leppa Berry, having only one of each. She watered them and then put the Berry Pots away. She would check on them later.

"Alright, let's return to Ecruteak City now," Zora said and returned Crisper to her Poké Ball, instead bringing out Kale to follow after Zora.

While they went through Route 37, Zora decided to train up Bambi and Omelet a little bit before returning to the city. Bambi defeated two Pidgey, and Omelet defeated four Pidgey.

After the last Pidgey was defeated, Omelet started glowing, and after a few seconds, he evolved into Togetic. Zora squealed and picked up the egg-shaped bird for a hug.

"You're growing so strong, Omelet!" Zora exclaimed excitedly. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Yay!" Omelet exclaimed joyfully. "I evolved! I'm stronger!"

Zora let go of Omelet, and they returned to Ecruteak City to prepare for the Gym. They healed up at the Pokémon Center, then sold the Revives at the Poké Mart and bought five Super Potions, an Awakening and two Great Balls. Having stocked up on items, Zora put Bambi in the front and went to the Gym.

As soon as they entered the dark Gym, however, an old man approached them.

"You have business with the Gym leader?" the old man implied. "Morty, the Gym Leader, has gone to the Burned Tower. Sorry, but you'll have to leave. Ho ho ho."

The old man pushed Zora out of the Gym again, and the doors closed behind them. Zora looked between the Gym and Bambi.

"Sounds like we have to go to the Burned Tower if we want that Badge," Zora remarked. "Let's go. We have an encounter there anyway."

They went to the Burned Tower and walked inside. Almost as soon as they entered the frail building, they saw a big hole in the middle of the floor. What really caught Zora's attention, however, was what was below the floor; three big, colorful Pokémon, standing at the bottom of the tower.

Zora walked around the hole and past some burned logs, when a man suddenly spotted her and walked over.

"My name is Eusine," he introduced himself. "I'm on the trail of a Pokémon named Suicune. And you are…?"

"My name is Zora," Zora introduced herself.

"Zora?" Eusine repeated. "Glad to meet you. I heard rumors that Suicune is here, so I came to look. Take a look at the basement through the hole in the floor." He pointed at the three colorful Pokémon at the bottom, specifically at the blue one. "There. Suicune is down there. I could go downstairs, but I know it would run away in no time. I know. I have tried it many times…"

Zora hummed. "I'm sure you'll get it someday," she said.

Eusine stared at Zora for a long time, making her a bit uncomfortable.

"There seems to be more than meets the eye with you…" Eusine remarked.

Zora perked at the words. _He knows?_ she thought in speculation. _He knows about… me?_

Spotting another man in a peculiar outfit at the corner of the floor, Zora walked past Eusine and walked over to the other stranger.

"My name is Morty," the man introduced himself as. "I am Ecruteak's Gym Leader. Because my old friend Eusine is here on the trail of Suicune, I decided to investigate the Burned Tower."

"Why here?" Zora asked curiously.

"Ecruteak has a legend about these legendary Pokémon: Suicune, Entei, and Raikou," Morty explained. "As the Gym Leader of Ecruteak, I must have a proper understanding of it."

Zora hummed in thought again. She left Morty, and she and Bambi went towards a ladder going down. They ran away from two Zubat before reaching the ladder. That's when Zora spotted Silver, who also spotted her. He approached her with the same indifferent expression as always.

"…Oh, it's you," Silver remarked as he recognized Zora. "You must be here to catch the legendary Pokémon to make yourself look strong."

"Uh, actually, I was–"

"That is only a dream," Silver interrupted her. "You see, the legendary Pokémon suits a Trainer like me who has sworn to become the strongest Trainer. A battle with Team Rocket Grunts is just right for you!"

Silver drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Gastly. Zora looked at Bambi, and they nodded at each other before Bambi stepped forth to fight.

"Bambi, use Thunderbolt," Zora ordered.

"Use Confuse Ray!" Silver ordered.

Bambi was confused but managed to break through and take out the Gastly in one hit with Thunderbolt.

"Great job, Bambi!" Zora said. "Get back and rest for a bit."

Bambi stepped back as Silver sent out his Quilava. Zora in turn sent out Crisper.

"Use Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered with excitement.

Quilava blew a Smokescreen in Crisper's face, but that did not prevent Crisper from landing a Magnitude 6 on the Quilava. It didn't quite go down yet, though.

"Another Magnitude!" Zora said. "You can do it!"

Quilava blew more smoke into Crisper's face, but it still didn't prevent Crisper from landing a Magnitude 7 and taking out the Quilava.

"Well done, Crisper!" Zora praised. "Get back and rest. Bambi, you're up again."

Crisper returned to her Poké Ball, and Bambi stepped forward again. Silver returned his Quilava to its Poké Ball and sent out his Zubat.

"Take it out with Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.

Zubat landed a Supersonic and confused Bambi, but Bambi, being the determined soldier he was, broke through and one-shot the Zubat with Thunderbolt.

"You're doing awesome, Bambi!" Zora said.

Silver snorted and returned his Zubat to its Poké Ball. "Out of desperation, weak people do okay with fighting back," Silver said. "Go, Magnemite!"

Silver had apparently caught a Magnemite, but that was no problem for Zora. Bambi stepped back, and Crisper was sent out again.

"Crisper, take it out with a strong Magnitude," Zora said with confidence.

Crisper landed a Magnitude 7 and took out the Magnemite in one hit. Silver snarled and returned the Magnemite to its Poké Ball.

"I'm not fighting with another weakling ever again," Silver hissed. "It's too much playing around."

Silver sighed deeply. "…Aw, whatever," he said, smirking. "You would never be able to catch a legendary Pokémon anyway."

Silver pushed Zora away so he could pass and leave the Burned Tower. Zora, Bambi and Crisper stared after him as he left. Zora returned Crisper to her Poké Ball and went to the ladder with Bambi. They descended to the lower floor and walked around a bit to get their encounter.

They ran from a Zubat before encountering a Koffing. Zora sighed.

"I wanted a Magmar," she complained. "But I guess we're fine with the Vulpix we have. Bambi, use Thunder Wave. Koffing doesn't know Selfdestruct yet, so we should be safe to catch it."

"Alright," Bambi said and used Thunder Wave to paralyze the Koffing, which missed a Poison Gas.

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Koffing. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball, named the female Koffing Smelly and watched the ball materialize away to the Pokémon Center.

Having gotten the encounter at the Burned Tower out of the way, Zora and Bambi instead turned to look at the three legendary beasts standing at the bottom of the floor. Zora gulped and walked over to them.

The three beasts roared and bounced around at the approach of the Trainer. Raikou was the first to hop out of the tower, followed by Entei. Suicune hopped out of the hole but didn't leave right away. First it hopped around, paused for a while in front of Zora and stared at her with a soft gaze. Zora and Bambi both held their breaths at the pure majesty of this legendary Pokémon.

After a moment that felt like minutes, a sound was heard from the ladder. The sound caused Suicune to run off, finally leaving the tower. Zora and Bambi stared after it, not noticing Eusine's arrival until he was standing right next to them, also looking after the Suicune.

"Did you see it?" Eusine remarked. "Suicune raced by like a blur, right in front of my eyes!"

"Aha," Zora replied, not having much else to say.

Tears seemed to be forming in Eusine's eyes, and a smile formed on his face. "I have been chasing Suicune for almost ten years, but I have never been this close! I'm all choked up!"

Eusine wiped his face and got his voice under control before turning to Zora. "By the way… It was clear to me that Suicune took notice of your presence. Ecruteak's legendary Pokémon are said to come to people only when they recognize their talents. Perhaps I should be more aggressive toward Suicune…"

Zora shrugged. "Maybe," she said, not really knowing what she was saying maybe to.

"Anyway, Zora, we will meet again!" Eusine said before leaping up the ladder and left the girl behind with her Flaaffy.

Zora sighed and looked down at Bambi. "Let's go back and see if Morty has decided to return to his Gym."

* * *

They left the Burned Tower and went to the Gym, finding that the old man from before had indeed left, and the Gym guard informed Zora that Morty had returned. Zora returned to the Pokémon Center and healed up the team, then went to the lounge to talk strategy.

"Alright, this Gym only has Ghost-type Pokémon," Zora explained. "Specifically, they only have Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, which are all also Poison-type. This means they are weak to Psychic-type moves as well as Dark-type and Ghost-type moves. I think our best bet is to use Omelet and Dingbat here. Omelet will especially be good since he's immune to Ghost-type moves."

"What about me?" Coco asked. "I'm a Normal-type too. Can I be of help?"

"For now, unfortunately not," Zora admitted. "Though we do need to train you up, so you can evolve and grow strong. That will have to wait for now though. Now, Gastly and Haunter are both pretty fast, as are Gengar, so Omelet will have to hold the Quick Claw we recently got. With that, you'll have a chance of hitting them first with Extrasensory."

Zora retrieved the Quick Claw and handed it over to Omelet, who tucked it into his crown.

"Dingbat should also have a good chance in this Gym, having high speed and good attack," Zora continued, "as well as Bite for a Dark-type move. However, since he is not Normal-type, he will get hit by their Ghost-type moves. To have a better chance, we'll have to evolve some of you, especially Dingbat."

Dingbat perked by the information. "I get to evolve soon?" Dingbat repeated. "Awesome, I can't wait to get some eyes!"

"Yes, you will evolve pretty soon," Zora repeated. "I'm not sure whether we should fight the Gym Trainers now while we train or to do it after you evolve though. I think I want you all to get to at least level twenty-two before we challenge the Gym Trainers."

"That's the level I evolve in, right?" Dingbat asked excitedly.

"That's right," Zora said with a smile. "And afterwards we'll fight the Gym Trainers, train you all up to level twenty-five, and then we'll challenge Morty."

"Sounds like a plan," Kale remarked.

"Will I get trained too?" Coco asked hopefully.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," Zora said. "But we'll get to your training right after we beat Morty. I promise you."

Coco's ears dropped a bit in disappointment. "Okay…" he replied quietly.

"Hey, cheer up," Crisper said. "You're going to become the strongest Eevee, whatever you evolve into, that the world has ever seen! You just have to be patient, and it will be all worth it!"

Coco smiled at Crisper's pep-talk, and his ears went up again. "Okay, I'll be patient!" he replied. "I'll wait."

"Good," Zora said with a smile and a nod. "Now, as for where we should train… I'm thinking we should go back to the National Park and fight the Trainers we avoided before. Afterwards we can fight the Trainers in the Burned Tower."

"Sounds good," Dingbat said. "Let's go!"

* * *

They left Ecruteak City and went through Route 37, running from anything they encountered, and headed to the National Park. The first Trainer they fought was a school kid with an Oddish and a Voltorb. Dingbat took out the Oddish with a Wing Attack, but Zora had Crisper take out the Voltorb with a Magnitude 7.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with the kid, Zora went on and encountered a lady with a Snubbull. Dingbat used two Wing Attacks on it before the Snubbull licked and paralyzed the Zubat. It licked him again, and he was unable to move. After another Lick though, Dingbat managed to break through the paralysis and take out the Snubbull with one last Wing Attack.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with the lady, Zora decided to run to Goldenrod City and heal up her team before returning to the National Park and fight the other Trainers there. As she was approaching a Trainer, a Weedle jumped out at them. Dingbat took it out with a single Wing Attack.

The Trainer noticed the commotion and approached them. It was a lass with an Oddish and a Cubone. Dingbat took care of the Oddish with Wing Attack, and Kale took care of the Cubone with Razor Leaf.

After the battle and declining trading phone numbers, Dingbat learned Confuse Ray, which Zora replaced Supersonic with, and they moved on to find the last Trainer in the park. They ran into a Kakuna, which Dingbat took care of with Wing Attack.

They finally found the last Trainer, a man who had a Raichu. Zora cringed as Dingbat went out.

"No, no, no," Zora said. "You are _not_ fighting that. Get back, Dingbat! Come out, Crisper!"

Dingbat returned to Zora's side, and Crisper was sent out and took a weak Quick Attack.

"Use Magnitude and take it out," Zora ordered.

After the Raichu landed another Quick Attack, Crisper launched a weak Magnitude 5 and didn't quite take the Raichu out. With a Magnitude 6, however, the Raichu was taken out, and both Crisper and Dingbat got some good experience from the electric rodent.

Having fought all the Trainers in the National Park, they were about to leave when Zora spotted an item, deciding to explore the park a bit first instead. She picked up a Soothe Bell, which she immediately gave to Coco, and ran around the park to see if there was anything else. There was an item on a hill, inaccessible except for climbing a steep wall, so they left it be. They did manage to find the TM for Dig, however, and finding nothing else, they left the park and returned to Ecruteak City.

After healing up the team, Zora and Dingbat went to the Burned Tower and walked around, searching for Trainers, running from any wild Pokémon they encountered. They encountered a firebreather with two Koffing and a Growlithe.

Dingbat took out the first Koffing with three Wing Attacks, as did he with the second but missed a few times when it blew two Smokescreens in his face… despite the fact that Dingbat didn't have any eyes yet. Zora opted for Crisper when the Trainer's Growlithe was sent out, and with a Magnitude 6, it was taken out as well.

Seeing Dingbat was a bit bruised, Zora was about to go back to the Pokémon Center when she remembered the berries. She checked the Berry Pots and saw that the two Oran Berry trees now had harvestable berries on them. She plucked two berries from both of them, and then she planted a Cheri Berry in one pot and a Lum Berry in the other. She watered the soil and put the pots away again.

After that was done, Zora gave Dingbat an Oran Berry, getting him back to full health before continuing through the tower.

"From what I remember, there's a firebreather here with a Charmeleon that knows Dragon Rage," Zora informed. "So I think it's best to have Crisper out front now."

"Alrighty then," Dingbat replied and returned to his Poké Ball.

After getting Crisper out to walk with Zora, they moved on, running from wild Pokémon and picking up an Antidote, until they found the last Trainer, the firebreather with a Charmeleon.

"Crisper, please use a strong Magnitude this time," Zora pleaded.

The Charmeleon used Ember and did a little damage, but enough that it could be dangerous if it launched a Dragon Rage next. Crisper, however, managed to pull off a Magnitude 8 and take out the Charmeleon in a single hit. Zora sighed with relief as they won the battle.

Zora put Dingbat back in the front to fight the wild Pokémon they encountered on their way out. They found an item among some rocks and smashed one to get access to it. It was an HP Up, which Zora decided to give to Coco, raising his health and making him happier.

As they turned around, a Koffing appeared in front of them, but Dingbat took it out with three Wing Attacks. Suddenly, Dingbat began glowing, and in the next few seconds, he had evolved into Golbat.

"Wow, I can see!" Dingbat exclaimed. "This is amazing! Whoa, my mouth opens really much!"

Zora smiled widely and hugged the big bat. "Our team is getting stronger and stronger," she said cheerfully and whipped out a Repel. "Let's get out of this tower and train somewhere more manageable."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, I love Magnitude. It's so fun, even though its power is unpredictable. And yay, I got a Golbat! :D  
> I'm gonna wait with evolving him into Crobat until after we beat the Gym. I'm drawing the teams I use against each Gym Leader, and I want to draw a Golbat.  
> Next time, we'll fight Morty and his Gym Trainers. Hopefully everyone will survive. I'm concerned about Curse...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 3  
> Live Pokémon: 22  
> Death counter: 0


	16. The Fourth Gym

Zora left the Burned Tower and returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up her team. Afterwards, she went to Route 37 to train up Omelet, Bambi and Kale to level twenty-two before they would enter the Gym.

Zora decided to train Omelet first, since he was the most important player in this Gym. Omelet defeated eleven Pidgey, one Stantler, three Vulpix and one Pidgeotto before he was ready to take on the Gym Trainers. Afterwards, Bambi took out five Pidgey, two Stantler and one Pidgeotto before he too was ready. Finally, Kale beat three Pidgey and a Pidgeotto before he was ready too. By the time Kale was done with his training, he learned Magical Leaf, and Zora replaced Synthesis with it.

With the entire team – with the exception of Coco – all at least at level twenty-two, Zora returned to the Pokémon Center, healed up the team and went to the Gym to fight the Gym Trainers, having Omelet in the front. However, before she entered the Gym, she hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Omelet asked. “Are we going or not?”

“Maybe it’s a bad idea to fight the Gym Trainers now after all,” she said. “With Coco at his current level, I mean.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, the Gastly and Haunter in the Gym only know Curse, Night Shade, Mean Look and Confuse Ray. Some of them also know Sucker Punch, but that only works if you use an attacking move, like Extrasensory. Curse is the most dangerous move here. But if you get confused, locked in battle and cursed at the same time, I’m not sure how long you will last.”

“What does that have to do with Coco?”

“If you were to get cursed but not locked in battle, I could switch to Coco… but no, even if we trained him up, he won’t have any super-effective moves against the opponents… I could evolve him into Umbreon… but that would take a long time.”

“Hey, don’t we still have U-Turn?” Omelet asked. “Can we use that?”

Zora hummed in thought. “Maybe,” she said. “It could work. If I teach U-Turn to Dingbat, I could switch to him when you defeat a Gastly or Haunter that has locked you with Mean Look, so your Curse will be lifted. And if Dingbat gets locked by Mean Look and Curse too, he can use U-Turn to switch to you. Yes, this could work…”

Zora pulled out Dingbat’s Poké Ball and took the TM for U-Turn. She slid the disc into the ball and taught Dingbat U-Turn, replacing Astonish with it. The disc slid back out and was broken in half. Zora discarded it in a nearby trash can.

“Well, that’s done now,” she said. “Guess there’s nothing left to do but enter and fight the Trainers. Let’s go, Omelet.”

* * *

They entered the Gym, which was in complete darkness. There were four Gym Trainers to battle before Morty, and the bridge they had to traverse was also dark, making the journey through the Gym even more difficult and hazardous.

They faced the first Gym Trainer, who had five Gastly. Omelet took out all of them with one Extrasensory each, without a problem.

They then went and fought the second Gym Trainer, who had two Haunter. The first was taken out with a speed boost from the Quick Claw. The second managed to trap Omelet with Mean Look, but it too was taken out in one hit.

Zora refused to let Omelet learn Follow Me, instead continuing onward to face the third Gym Trainer, who had one Haunter, but which was stronger than the previous two ones. It used Sucker Punch on Omelet before he took it out with Extrasensory, but he didn’t take much damage from it. Zora still opted to return to the Pokémon Center to heal up before facing the final Gym Trainer though.

The last Gym Trainer had a Haunter and two Gastly, one stronger than the other. The first Gastly was taken out in one hit without a problem. The Haunter used Mean Look to trap Omelet in battle, but it too was taken out in one hit with Extrasensory. The second Gastly was sent out, and it too was taken out with a single Extrasensory. The last Gym Trainer was beat without Omelet taking any damage.

Although Omelet was probably the only Pokémon Zora would use against Morty, and though Omelet had reached level twenty-five by now, being on par with Morty’s Gengar, Zora still decided to leave the Gym and train up the others first.

By the time they exited the Gym and entered Route 37, the sun had set, and the nocturnal Pokémon had come out. Bambi was the first to be trained, taking out eighteen Hoothoot, five Stantler and two Vulpix before reaching level twenty-five as well. He wanted to learn Charge, but Zora declined.

Afterwards, Kale was trained up, beating two Hoothoot and two Stantler and grew stronger. However, after healing up at the Pokémon Center, as they ran through the grass…

A roar sounded, and a huge Pokémon appeared before them. Zora’s heart skipped a beat.

It was Raikou. Raikou, the legendary Pokémon of thunder, had just appeared before them. And it was level forty.

“Ohhhhh snap,” Zora said with a shaking voice. “There is _no way_ we are fighting this…”

Zora wasn’t the only one who was scared. Kale shook beside her, staring up at the huge yellow and black-striped beast.

“Is this it?” Kale whispered. “Are we going to die now?”

“I can’t move,” Zora uttered. “My legs won’t move. I can’t run.”

“I can’t move either,” Kale said with a terrified voice. “Please don’t hurt us…”

Raikou stared at the two of them, seemingly contemplating something. It took a step back and took a stance.

Suddenly Zora felt the ability to move again, and she grabbed Kale by the head leaf and ran off full speed, restraining herself from screaming. They retreated to Ecruteak City and hid behind the trees at the entrance.

They both gasped in exhaustion and fear. They peeked out from behind the trees. Raikou was gone.

“Do you… do you think it’s gone?” Kale asked with a shaking voice.

Zora took out her Pokégear with shaking hands. She checked the map function, now noticing two head icons matching those of the legendary beasts. Entei and Raikou’s faces were present on the screen, Raikou having moved down further south, Entei being closer to Cherrygrove City. There was seemingly no icon matching Suicune, making it apparently untrackable.

“It looks like it’s still out there,” Zora informed. “Looks like we can still catch it later… when we’re ready.”

Knowing the danger was over, they got out from their hiding place and tip-toed their way back into Route 37, looking from side to side in uncertainty.

“That was scary,” Kale said, his voice starting to calm down now.

“I never expected Raikou to just pop out like that while we were training,” Zora said, also starting to calm down. “To be honest, though, it didn’t seem like it wanted to fight either. I thought it was going to attack, but I think it just ran away. Perhaps we can try catching it and Entei in the future, if we ever run into them again.”

“Wait, what if they end up being our first encounter in a new area?” Kale pointed out in realization. “What do we do then?”

Zora thought for a moment as she went through her notes. “I think the chance is pretty low for that,” she said. “But with the map function, we’re able to keep track of their location, so we can avoid having them as our first encounter. We should be fine…”

After that scary situation, they went back to training. Kale beat another eleven Hoothoot and six Stantler before finally reaching level twenty-five. After that, Zora trained up Dingbat until he had defeated eighteen Hoothoot and eight Stantler.

When it was Crisper’s turn, she only had to take down one Hoothoot, one Stantler and two Vulpix before reaching level twenty-five as well. When that happened, she also evolved into Graveler, much to Zora’s delight. Zora did refuse to teach her Rock Blast though, as it wasn’t much better than Rock Throw or Rollout.

Zora was unsure whether to train up Coco right away or if she should wait with that. Umbreon would learn Pursuit at level fifteen and Faint Attack at level thirty-six, and Eevee didn’t learn Bite until level twenty-nine.

“Then again, Umbreon doesn’t learn Bite at all,” Zora speculated. “And Bite is not a bad move either. Perhaps we can train up Coco to level twenty-five after all. Maybe we should wait with evolving him until he reaches level twenty-nine or thirty. Perhaps twenty-nine would be fine, he might be able to learn Confuse Ray upon evolution.”

“So we’re training the kid?” Crisper asked, now standing with two legs and four arms.

“Yes, we’re training Coco,” Zora said. “We’ll start in Route 29 tomorrow. Which means we’ll go to my house in New Bark Town and stay overnight.”

“Ooh, that sounds neat,” Crisper said. “Let’s go!”

* * *

They journeyed all the way back to New Bark Town, running from any wild Pokémon they encountered, and walked to Zora’s house. Mom greeted them with a big smile and got to see how much Zora’s Pokémon had grown, especially Kale who was now a Bayleef.

“Oh, that Eevee is adorable!” her mother remarked and picked up Coco. “He looks just like the one that ran away a few weeks ago. Fluffy, you remember?”

Zora cringed and swallowed a lump at the mention of Fluffy. She simply nodded. “We’ll stay overnight, mom,” Zora informed. “We’re training Coco tomorrow, so everyone’s ready for the Gym in Ecruteak City.”

“Your fourth Gym battle!” her mother exclaimed with excitement. “You’re growing up so fast, Zora! I’m so proud of you! Have some dinner before you and your Pokémon go to sleep, alright?”

“I will,” Zora said with a smile. “I’m glad to be home, mom.”

Zora’s mother cooked up some dinner for the two of them, while the Pokémon got some berries to feast on, along with some other Pokémon food. Apparently her mother had done some more shopping while Zora was gone, expecting to get visits now and then. Zora appreciated the support, but she also felt guilty about lying about Fluffy and not telling the truth to her.

After they finished their dinner, Zora and her Pokémon went upstairs to her room, getting ready to go to bed. That’s when Zora told the new members about Fluffy.

Coco naturally seemed most shocked about the story of the other Eevee named Fluffy, having been killed by a level two Rattata. Fluffy himself had only been level one, having never battled since hatching from his egg when Zora was four years old. Zora noticed the Eevee’s distressed look.

“Fluffy was my first Pokémon, but he was weak,” Zora said. “It may sound harsh, but he was. He wasn’t strong enough to fight even a level two Rattata on his own. I didn’t know better. I didn’t know about my condition until it happened. It’s thanks to Fluffy that I know. And because of Fluffy, I was able to research and take notes to make sure none of you guys died. Your survival so far is all thanks to Fluffy’s sacrifice, before I even became an official Trainer.”

They held a minute of silence for Fluffy, despite his death having occurred almost a month ago by now.

“His sacrifice will not be in vain,” Kale said. “I don’t blame you for not telling us, Zora. But I’m glad you did. We’ll do our best to not die.”

“You bet!” Coco exclaimed. “I won’t end up like him! I will defeat our opponents and become strong, and I will survive! You just wait and see!”

“I’m counting on it,” Zora said with a smile. “Now, let’s get some sleep. You have a long day of training ahead of you tomorrow, Coco.”

* * *

The next morning, after waking up, they ate breakfast downstairs before taking off, saying goodbye to Zora’s mother once again. Zora returned everyone to their Poké Balls except for Coco. Unlike Fluffy, Coco was strong enough to fight opponents on his own, but he was still frail enough that any of these low level Pokémon on Route 29 could kill him, so Zora had to be very careful.

Coco’s first opponent was a Pidgey.

“Use Tackle, Coco!” Zora ordered.

Coco used Tackle and did a lot of damage, almost knocking the Pidgey out. It tackled in return, but did almost no damage. With another Tackle, the Pidgey went down.

“I did it!” Coco said excitedly. “My first victory!”

“Good job!” Zora praised. “But… have you never battled before? You’re level five.”

“That Bill guy gave me some yummy candy that made me feel stronger after I ate them,” Coco said. “But no, I’ve never battled before.”

“Oh,” Zora said. “Well, get ready for a lot of battles. This was only the beginning. Keep up the good work!”

Zora decided they should move from route to route when Coco had reached certain levels, the first goal being level ten. Coco reached that level after defeating another twenty-seven Pidgey, thirteen Sentret and two Rattata.

Afterwards, they decided to head to Ilex Forest for the next training. On their way there, throughout the many routes they took between Route 29 to Azalea Town, Coco defeated two Pidgey, one Sentret, two Weedle, one Kakuna, one Bellsprout, one Ekans, one Mareep and three Zubat. They ran from any Geodude or Onix they encountered in Union Cave, as Eevee would not do anything against Rock-type Pokémon.

They stopped by Kurt’s house and picked up some Friend Balls and gave him some Blue Apricorns to work on until she returned another day. Once they arrived in Ilex Forest, Coco took out twenty-nine Weedle, twelve Kakuna and one Paras until he reached level fifteen. Afterwards they picked up Dummy to cut the tree blocking the way, and Zora put her in Crisper’s spot. They exited the forest on the other side – after taking out another two Weedle and two Kakuna that got in their way – and started training in Route 34, where the wild Pokémon were close to his level, though still a little under.

They first went to Goldenrod City and put Crisper back on the team, putting Dummy back in the PC. Afterwards they returned to Route 34 to continue training. As soon as they entered the tall grass, however, Raikou popped out at them again, giving them both a scare.

“Go away, go away, go away!” Zora shrieked.

Coco growled at the Raikou in defiance, to Zora’s horror. Instead of attacking, however, Raikou simply turned around and ran off. Zora took deep breaths and held a hand on her chest to calm her beating heart.

“I really have to check that map so we avoid surprises like that,” Zora wheezed. “That was a bold move you just pulled off, Coco. How are you faster than Raikou?”

Coco looked up at his Trainer, also shaking a bit. “I don’t know,” he replied. “But… I’m glad it decided to go away. I was so scared…”

Zora knelt down and pat the Eevee on the head. “You did well not dying,” she praised. “Let’s keep training. Maybe one day you will get to fight Raikou face to face. Or perhaps Entei or even Suicune.”

Coco looked up at Zora with big eyes, gleaming with excitement. “Okay, let’s continue!”

* * *

Coco ended up defeating ten Drowzee, seven Rattata, two Abra and two Ditto before Zora realized they could teach him Headbutt to make training go faster. As such, they paused Coco’s training in Route 34, instead heading back to Ilex Forest to teach him Headbutt. Coco defeated two Weedle, two Kakuna and one Zubat on the way in and out of the forest. Now knowing Headbutt, Coco defeated another five Drowzee, seven Rattata and two Abra before reaching level twenty. At one point, Raikou appeared again in Route 34, but this time Zora avoided the encounter by hiding until it left.

After that, they healed up in Goldenrod City, went to Route 36 and continued training. However, as they entered the grass, a roar sounded, and this time Entei leapt out at them from the tall grass. Again, both Zora and Coco got startled. Coco threw sand at Entei, but it immediately ran away.

“What’s up with those freaking legendary beasts?!” Zora exclaimed as she started to calm down. “Leave us alone already!”

After that, they continued training. They trained in Route 36 until Coco reached level twenty-two. That happened after beating nine female Nidoran, five male Nidoran, eight Pidgey and three Vulpix. He also learned Quick Attack and forgot Tackle.

Finally, they went to Route 37 and trained Coco to level twenty-five, at which point he had defeated another ten Pidgey, nine Stantler, two Vulpix and three Pidgeotto, as well as avoiding encountering Entei at one point and Raikou at three points. Now, everyone on the team was ready to take on Morty and his Ghost-type Pokémon.

Zora went to the Pokémon Center in Ecruteak City, healed up the team, went over their strategy again, and then went to the Gym, making sure to put Omelet in the front to take on Morty’s Pokémon. Zora took the Quick Claw from Omelet and gave him a Chesto Berry to hold instead. They carefully treaded through the dark Gym, crossing the narrow bridges and avoiding falling into the darkness below, until they reached Morty’s platform.

Zora took a deep breath and stepped forward. Morty smiled upon their approach.

“It’s good of you to have come,” Morty said. “Here in Ecruteak, Pokémon have long been revered. It’s said that a rainbow-hued Pokémon will come down to appear before a truly powerful Trainer.”

Morty paused for a moment. Zora remained silent.

“I believe that tale, so I have secretly trained here all my life,” Morty continued. “As a result, I can now see what others cannot. I see a shadow of the person who will make the Pokémon appear.”

Zora gulped. _A truly powerful Trainer,_ she thought.

Morty smiled widely and drew a Poké Ball. “I believe that person is me! You’re going to help me reach that level!”

Morty sent out his first Pokémon, a Gastly. Zora looked down at Omelet, and they nodded at each other. Omelet went forth to face the Gastly.

“Use Extrasensory, Omelet!” Zora ordered.

Gastly tried using Spite, but it failed as Omelet hadn’t made a move yet. Because of its mistake, Omelet took it out with a single Extrasensory. Morty returned the Gastly to his Poké Ball and sent out his first Haunter.

“Use Extrasensory again!” Zora ordered.

“Use Curse!” Morty ordered.

The Haunter landed a Curse on Omelet, cutting down its own health. It was taken out by Extrasensory, but in turn, Omelet got hurt by Curse.

“Get back, Omelet,” Zora said and drew a Poké Ball. “Come out, Dingbat!”

As Dingbat got out, Morty sent out his Gengar.

“Use U-Turn, Dingbat!” Zora ordered.

“Use Sucker Punch!” Morty ordered.

Before Dingbat launched his U-Turn, Gengar Sucker Punched him, but it barely did anything. Dingbat returned to his Poké Ball, and Omelet was sent out instead.

“Use Mean Look!” Morty ordered.

Gengar locked Omelet in place, but Zora wasn’t worried.

“Use Extrasensory!” Zora ordered.

With an Extrasensory, Gengar was almost knocked out, but not entirely. The Gengar drew a Sitrus Berry it was holding and ate it, regaining some health.

“One more Extrasensory!” Zora exclaimed. “Take it out!”

Gengar missed a Hypnosis, allowing Omelet to take it out with Extrasensory. Morty returned the Gengar to its Poké Ball, but the smile remained on his face.

“No, it’s not over yet,” he said. “It’s not over yet! I still believe we can do it! Go, Haunter!”

Morty sent out his second Haunter, his final Pokémon. Zora took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Omelet, Extrasensory,” she said.

Haunter used Sucker Punch, but Omelet managed to land a critical hit with Extrasensory and took out the Haunter. Leader Morty was defeated, and Zora had beaten the fourth Gym. She sighed with relief.

“Great job, Omelet,” she praised. “You too, Dingbat. You did well, too.”

Morty sighed and recalled his Haunter, but soon put his smile back on.

“I don’t think our potentials are so different,” he said. “But you seem to have something more than that… So be it. This Badge is yours.”

Morty handed over the Fog Badge to Zora, and she put it away with the others.

“By having the Fog Badge, Pokémon up to level fifty, including traded Pokémon, will obey you. Also, Pokémon will be able to use Surf. Here is another thing… I want you to have this, too.”

Morty handed over a TM labeled TM30. Zora accepted it and put it in the pocket with TMs and HMs.

“It’s Shadow Ball,” Morty explained. “It causes damage and may reduce Special Defense. Use it if it appeals to you.”

“Ooh, thanks,” Zora said with a big smile. “Thank you for the battle. Goodbye.”

Zora and Omelet left the Gym, giddy from their victory and ready to celebrate with the rest of the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Four badges and no deaths so far! I think I'm doing pretty good! :)  
> Though I would wish Raikou and Entei would stop following me all the time. -_-;  
> Also got something special in mind for the next part...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 4  
> Live Pokémon: 22  
> Death counter: 0


	17. A New Friend

Zora and Omelet left the Gym and returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up. Before celebrating, however, Zora remembered they had an encounter in the Bell Tower that was also located in Ecruteak City. She put Bambi in the front to prepare for their encounter, which was going to be a Gastly, as the only other things that lived in the tower were Rattata.

They went to the gate leading to the Bellchime Trail, gained access via Zora's new Fog Badge, and they went down and up some stairs before getting outside.

The Bellchime Trail was surprisingly… quiet. There was no wind, no rustling, no street music, no sound of talking anywhere near them. Not even the sound of Pokémon cries. The only sound they heard as they went towards the tower was the sound of their own footsteps, rustling through the orange and golden leaves scattered across the ground.

They stood in front of the tower and just admired it for moment. Then they went inside. They found a ladder, but a man walked over to them and blocked their way.

"A long time ago, there used to be a Pokémon at the top of this tower, namely Ho-Oh," the man informed. "But it flew away, and no one has seen it since…"

Zora and Bambi shared glances. "Ho-Oh, huh," Zora repeated.

"If anyone who could restore deep trust between people and Pokémon were to come here with something linked to Ho-Oh…" the man continued. "…It may come down for such a person…"

After that tale, the man returned to stand beside the ladder. Zora tried to step forward again, but the man simply got in her way again and made her back off. Zora then tried to go around the railings in the middle of the floor, but the man spotted her and continued blocking her way, apparently not thinking she was 'worthy' of traversing the tower.

"I just want a Gastly!" Zora exclaimed as the man returned to his spot by the ladder. "LET ME PASS!"

But Zora was unable to pass, so she gave up and left the Bell Tower.

"How rude," Zora grumbled as they walked back to Ecruteak City along the Bellchime Trail. "I just wanted a Gastly. Is that too much to ask for?"

Bambi didn't say anything, just walking quietly by as they arrived back in the Pokémon Center. By that time, the ordeal had been more or less forgotten. Instead, Zora went to the lounge and brought out all her Pokémon to celebrate their victory against Morty, as well as to take a break from their journey and training.

"You both did really well, Omelet and Dingbat," Zora praised with a big smile. "I'm very proud of you both."

"They stood no chance!" Omelet said cheerfully.

"Yeah, we're the best!" Dingbat said proudly. The two Flying-type Pokémon gave each other a high-five with their wings.

"So what's next?" Kale asked. "Where's the fifth Gym?"

"Let me see," Zora said and brought out her notes and Pokégear. "It looks like the fifth Gym is located in Cianwood City. It's located across the water. It seems we'll need to use Surf in order to go there."

"But we don't have Surf," Bambi pointed out. "What do we do?"

"We'll have to find it," Zora said. "Maybe someone here in Ecruteak has it. We'll just have to search the city for it. As for who will learn Surf, I think that will be Goofy, our Slowpoke."

"Are we going to train him up as well?" Crisper asked.

"Maybe," Zora replied. "It would be nice if we could evolve him into a Slowking, but we don't have a King's Rock, nor do we have anyone to trade with. And even if we did, I'm not sure if that's safe…"

Coco nuzzled against Zora's arm, and Zora pat him on the head. "Maybe we don't need him," Coco said. "Maybe we just use him when we need to cross the water, right?"

"Perhaps," Zora replied. "But Surf is a pretty good move in battle, too. I do want to have a Water-type on our team. I'm just not sure if it should be Goofy. I'm also not sure which one of you I should replace. You're all pretty strong and good in your own ways…"

"Don't worry about it," Crisper said. "It's okay if some of us stand by in the PC and wait to be used in a different time, if it's appropriate then. It's better that we all live than die because of the close bonds you've formed with us."

Zora thought for a moment about Crisper's words. She smiled. "Maybe you're right, Crisper," Zora said. "When the time comes, I will sort out the team so we can function the best way possible. Now, the fifth Gym specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon, so we'll need Flying- and Psychic-type moves. In other words, we'll need Omelet and Dingbat again. Dingbat should probably evolve into Crobat before we enter the Gym."

"Ooh, I can't wait!" Dingbat exclaimed excitedly.

Kale poked Zora on the shoulder with his nose, catching her attention. "Zora, Omelet may be strong right now, but you said it yourself," Kale said quietly, while the others were chatting and playing amongst themselves. "Things are going to get tougher from now on. Omelet won't be able to stand against these dangers forever. Not as he is right now. Maybe we should let him stay behind in the box."

Zora looked from Kale to Omelet and Dingbat, flying around the Pokémon Center in a game of tag.

"I was considering that as well," Zora admitted. "Having a Poison- and Flying-type like Dingbat on the team has more coverage than a Normal- and Flying-type like Omelet. Even if Omelet is immune to Ghost and only weak against Fighting, he's still so small. He will become frailer the stronger Pokémon we encounter, even as he grows stronger himself alongside you guys."

There was a moment of silence between them, while Omelet darted around the Pokémon Center, above people's heads, making them look up at the egg-shaped bird. A moment later, a boy walked through the doors, and Omelet almost flew into him, but he managed to stop midair, being just inches away from the boy's face. Zora quickly got up from the couch and went over.

"Omelet!" Zora called, and Omelet quickly retreated into her arms. Zora turned to the boy. "I'm so sorry, he only just recently evolved, he's still getting used to flying."

"Oh, it's okay," the boy said.

The boy straightened his hat, which seemed to be a beret, in a rose color and with a white Poké Ball logo on the sides. He was wearing a red shirt, a blue coat, a white scarf and black pants. Zora noticed a strange-looking wristwatch on his wrist, as well as a belt with six Poké Balls.

"You're a Trainer too?" Zora implied and smiled. "My name is Zora."

"My name is Sid," the boy introduced himself as. "And yes, I'm a Trainer too."

"How many Badges do you have?"

"All of them."

"What? All of them?"

Sid pulled out a Badge case and opened it to show them to Zora. There were eight shiny Badges located inside. Though…

"They don't look like my Badges," Zora remarked and got her own Badges out to show them. "They're not Johto Badges, are they?"

"No, they're not," Sid replied. "I guess I forgot to tell you. I'm from the Sinnoh region, and these are the Sinnoh Badges from the Sinnoh Gyms."

"Oh," Zora said. "Do they work here in Johto too?"

"It appears so," Sid said. "Pokémon I've caught or traded here, even at high levels, obey me without question."

"What are you doing here in Johto if you live in Sinnoh?" Zora asked curiously.

"Oh, I just wanted to explore some of the other regions," Sid answered. "I've already seen everything there is to see in Sinnoh."

"So you came here with a plane?"

"No, I flew here on one of my Pokémon."

"You can do that?! But Sinnoh is so far away! Isn't your Pokémon tired?"

Sid chuckled. "I guess it is," he replied. "But it's resting in its Poké Ball, so it's fine."

Sid looked down at the Pokémon surrounding Zora, having gathered around their Trainer without either of them noticing. Apparently they were curious about the boy talking to their Trainer. Sid gazed around at each of them.

"Your Pokémon seem strong," he remarked. "Though it's a bit of an odd bunch…"

"It is?" Zora said and looked down at her team. "Perhaps it is…"

Sid's smile suddenly fell and his eyes widened, as if a thought just crossed his mind. "Can I see your Pokédex?" he asked.

"Uh, sure, here," Zora said and handed over her Pokédex.

Sid looked at it. "You've got four Badges, yet you've only registered twenty-eight Pokémon on your Pokédex," Sid remarked. "How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Uh…" Zora drawled out, trying to remember. "Twenty-two."

Sid's face seemed to darken as he handed back her Pokédex. He gestured for her to follow him, and they retreated to the lounge to distance themselves from the other people in the Pokémon Center.

"You…" Sid said quietly. "…You wouldn't happen to have something called Nuzlocke, do you?"

Zora stiffened at the question. "You… How did you know?" she proclaimed.

"Your Pokédex, your team, your small amount of caught Pokémon," Sid listed. "It all adds up. You're a Nuzlocke Trainer."

"But how did you find out so easily?" Zora asked. "How do you know about the condition?"

"Because I used to be a Nuzlocke Trainer myself."

Zora and her Pokémon all perked at the information. "You were a Nuzlocke Trainer yourself?" Zora repeated. "In the Sinnoh region?"

"Yes," Sid said. "I learned about my condition the hard way. Before I became an official Pokémon Trainer on my tenth birthday, I had a Shinx named Sparky. A few weeks before my birthday, he was killed by a Darkrai that had infiltrated my home town, Twinleaf Town."

Zora perked by the name. "Darkrai? Is that a Pokémon?"

"Yes," Sid replied. "It's a Pokémon that puts people and Pokémon to sleep, after which it induces them with nightmares. This one didn't actually attack anyone, but… I wanted to prove how strong a Trainer I was, how good I was going to be. I was naive. So I sent Sparky against Darkrai, and obviously he was easily defeated. However… after the Darkrai fled, when I checked on Sparky… he was…"

Sid lowered his head and trembled a bit, apparently still hung on the memory.

"Something similar happened to me," Zora said, making Sid look up. "I had an Eevee called Fluffy, who I've had since I was four years old. But a few weeks ago, I got impatient on the prospect of becoming an official Pokémon Trainer, so I took him out into the tall grass and fought a wild Rattata. It killed him so easily, it was ridiculous…"

Sid looked surprised at Zora. "A _Rattata_?" he repeated in disbelief. "Was your Eevee level one or something?"

Zora cringed at the outburst. "He was," she admitted. "He was too weak to fight yet on his own, but I didn't realize that until he just… died."

They fell silent for a moment, looking away from each other. Then a thought occurred to Zora.

"Can you understand Pokémon?" she asked.

Sid looked back at Zora. "Yes, I can," he replied. "Can you too?"

"Yes," Zora replied. "And while I'm still sad over Fluffy's death, it's thanks to him that I've been able to get these four Badges without losing any of my Pokémon."

Sid blinked surprised. "You haven't lost a single one yet?" he repeated astonished. "You're really lucky. You must have done a lot of research. Your Pokémon do look pretty strong…"

Sid gazed at Crisper and Omelet. "Say, do you need help evolving that Graveler?" he asked.

Zora looked down at Crisper, who looked between Zora and Sid. "Well, I do sort of want a Golem," she replied. "But isn't trading dangerous for us Nuzlocke Trainers?"

"Not if it's quick and the new Pokémon don't get trained," Sid replied. "And if you need to evolve that Togetic, I have a Shiny Stone you can use, too."

Zora looked surprised at Sid. "You… you would help me with that?" she asked in disbelief.

"Sure thing," Sid replied with a smile. "When I was on my Nuzlocke journey, I wish I had someone I could trade with, to help my Pokémon get strong. So I wouldn't have to lose anyone…"

Zora hummed. "So it's okay?" she asked. "You're sure my Pokémon or yours won't die if we trade them over to each other and back?"

"Absolutely sure," Sid replied. "I've traded and helped a few other Nuzlocke Trainers when I got my own curse lifted."

"Oh, so you managed to defeat the Champion?"

Sid fell silent. "It doesn't matter," he said, "whether you beat the Champion… or lose your whole team. If either happens, the curse gets lifted."

Zora's face seemed to darken too. "Did… did you lose?" she asked. "Everyone?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter," Sid replied. "I can catch Pokémon, breed them, trade them, I can do whatever I want now, and no one dies. What I can also do now is help others that are in the same boat I've been in. Like you. I think it's very impressive you've kept all your Pokémon alive up until now. I would like to see that keeps happening. I'm rooting for you. And I want to give you my support too."

Sid gazed down at Crisper, standing next to Zora.

"I will help you evolve that Graveler," he said. "I will help you evolve any Pokémon that needs to be traded to evolve, and I will give you any evolution stones you may need. I've got plenty from the Sinnoh Underground."

"That's really too much," Zora said. "I can't accept that…"

"It's fine," Sid said with a smile. "I want to help. I have helped before. Everything will be fine. Trust me. I have a Pidgey in my storage. I can give it a Shiny Stone to hold, trade it for your Graveler, your Graveler will evolve into Golem, and then we will trade our Pokémon back to each other. I can even give your Graveler, or Golem, an item to hold to give back to you once it returns to you. Is there another Pokémon you have which evolves with an evolution stone?"

"I do have a Vulpix," Zora said. "And I do kind of want to use him at some point."

"So you need a Fire Stone," Sid concluded. "No problem. I have plenty of those, too. I can give your Graveler, or Golem, a Fire Stone to hold when I give it back to you."

"Why can't you just _give_ the stones to us, boy?" Crisper said with a hint of a snarl.

"It's not that easy, Crisper," Zora said.

"Why not?"

"It's… It just isn't!"

Sid smiled as Zora and Crisper argued. "Okay, I said I understand Pokémon, but that's only my own Pokémon," he admitted. "I can't understand other Trainers' Pokémon, nor wild ones."

Zora turned back to look at Sid. "Same!" she said. "Hey, did you happen to have a strange dream before your Shinx died? Something that told you that you were getting special powers, but with a consequence as well?"

Sid's smile fell, and he seemed to be in deep thought. "Maybe," he said. "I think I did. Did you have such a dream?"

"Yes," Zora replied. "And I read about it online. It seems the things we've experienced have been experienced by almost every other Nuzlocke Trainer in the world as well. Everyone having strange dreams, everyone having the ability to understand Pokénese, everyone's Pokémon dying in battle or in other certain situations that are so trivial to normal Trainers."

"It seems there's a pattern," Sid remarked. "It all starts with a dream. But why? Who gave us those dreams? Whose voice is it? What is it that gives us this weird curse? And why is it that defeating the Champion of the Nuzlocke Trainer's region lifts the curse? What is happening…?"

Zora placed a hand on Sid's shoulder, getting his attention. "We can worry about that later," she said. "Let's trade."

* * *

They went into the Union Room, which was the part of the Pokémon Center where Trainers could trade Pokémon with each other. All of Zora's Pokémon were put back in their balls, including Crisper, who was going through the trade.

Before they started the trade, Sid sent his level two Pidgey out of its Poké Ball to give it a Shiny Stone to hold. Afterwards, it returned to its Poké Ball. The two Trainers walked together over to the trading machine with each their Poké Ball in hand.

"You ready?" Sid asked as they stood at each end of the machine.

Zora took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm ready," she replied.

Without further hesitation, Sid and Zora placed Crisper and Pidgey's Poké Balls into the trading machine and activated it. The Poké Balls began running through the machine, and they saw on a screen the images of their Pokémon going from one end to the other. Within a few seconds, Sid's Pidgey arrived at Zora's end, and Crisper arrived at Sid's end.

The machine opened its two ends, allowing the Trainers to withdraw the Poké Balls. Both Pokémon were sent out from them.

"Hello," Sid's Pidgey greeted and held forth the Shiny Stone between its talons. "You need this?"

"Yes, thank you," Zora said and accepted the Shiny Stone from Pidgey. She put it away and looked over to Sid's end.

Almost as soon as Crisper had left her Poké Ball, she started glowing white, and a few seconds later, a large Golem stood in her place. Crisper had reached her final evolution. Zora smiled.

"Looking good," Sid said, also smiling. He took out a Fire Stone from his own bag. "Here, Crisper, hold this."

Crisper silently accepted the Fire Stone and held it in her claws. The next second, both Pokémon were returned to their Poké Balls.

"Now we trade them back," Sid explained. "Same procedure as before."

"Okay," Zora replied.

They put the Poké Balls back into the trading machine, activated it, and watched as their own Pokémon returned to them. As the machine's ends opened again, Zora took her Poké Ball out again, having gained Crisper back on her team, now having evolved into Golem. Sid took his Pidgey back and put it with his other Poké Balls.

"Was that it?" Zora asked.

"That was it," Sid replied and sent out his Pidgey. "See? My Pidgey is okay. And your Golem is good too. Anytime you need help evolving another Pokémon through trading, I'll be there to help. I know! I'll give you my phone number! Then we can stay in touch, and you can tell me when you need my help."

"Good idea," Zora replied.

They exchanged phone numbers, and then they left the Union Room together, returning to the reception room of the Pokémon Center.

"How long are you planning to stay in Johto?" Zora asked curiously.

"Eh, at first I was thinking two weeks, maybe a month," Sid said. "But now I think I'll stay for at least two more months. Maybe more. I'd like to see you finish your journey and lift your own curse. And I'm willing to help you anytime you need me."

"Alright," Zora said. "Thanks for the help, Sid. I really appreciate the support. I will make sure your help won't go to waste."

Sid smiled and nodded. He didn't leave right away. He seemed as if there was still something he wanted to say.

"Is there something else on your mind, Sid?" Zora asked.

"I…" Sid drawled out. "…No, it's nothing. You just worry about your journey. Remember, anytime you need my help, call me. I'll come to you, and I'll lend you my help."

"I know," Zora said. "I guess… I'll see you later then."

Sid nodded. "See you later, Zora."

* * *

They left the Pokémon Center together, then Sid sent out his Pidgey again and flew away on it, holding on its legs. That tiny bird sure was strong, being able to hold an eleven year-old boy in the air.

"Well, now that that's done, we can go see if anyone in Ecruteak has the HM for Surf," Zora said.

"Okay…" Crisper replied quietly beside her.

Zora looked down at her Golem. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, it's nothing," Crisper replied. "Let's go."

Zora hummed but decided not to dwell on it. She put Crisper back in her Poké Ball and sent out Omelet instead to follow after her.

"Well, let's search the city for someone with Surf," Zora said.

The first house they checked was right next to the Pokémon Center. The guy living inside didn't have Surf, but he did give Zora a Dowsing Machine for agreeing with him that treasure hunting was fun. He also had a book on the history of Ecruteak, which Zora decided to read a bit of. It was about the two towers, one of which was the roost of Ho-Oh. It also told about Raikou, Entei and Suicune, as well as the burning of one tower which caused the legendary birds to disappear from Ecruteak even to this very day.

After reading and getting the Dowsing Machine, Zora left and went to another house, behind the Gym. There was an old man and his grandson, both of whom spoke of another powerful flying Pokémon, both like a bird and like a dragon. They didn't have anything though, so Zora left again and went to another building, located just behind the Pokémon Center.

It was the Ecruteak Dance Theater, Zora read on the sign. They stepped inside the building, where a few people were present, as well as a Psyduck.

" _Hey! Hey!_ " someone yelled.

Zora and Omelet looked up on the stage, where a single Kimono Girl stood in an elegant yet odd position, as if having been interrupted during a dance. In front of the Kimono Girl stood a Team Rocket grunt, having entered the stage, apparently not satisfied with the performance.

"Stop dancing such a serious dance!" he exclaimed. "Show me something like a hula dance!"

The Kimono Girl was clearly offended by the order. "…You mustn't push such a request on me," she replied quietly.

The grunt bounced surprised and irritated up and down. "Huh? Are you telling me you don't respect what the customer wants?"

The distressed Kimono Girl took several steps back from the creepy grunt. He grinned.

"Well, then I'll show you how to dance," the grunt said. "I'll show you a great one! Wahahaha!"

He began spinning around, not as elegantly as the Kimono Girl probably would do it, but it was certainly a sight to behold. Zora and Omelet shared gazes.

"Let's go teach that grunt some manners, shall we?" Zora said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Omelet replied with a determined look.

They stepped forward, hearing the people in the audience complain about the grunt's horrible dance, and proceeded to go up the stairs and onto the stage. The Kimono Girl watched silently as Zora passed her and stepped in between her and the grunt, together with her Togetic.

The grunt continued dancing until he noticed Zora standing right in front of him with crossed arms and a stern look on her face. Next to her, Omelet copied her posture and facial expression, which looked kind of cute.

"Huh? Who are you?" the grunt asked surprised. "You dare to get in my way? Go, Koffing!"

The grunt stepped back and sent out his Koffing, intending to do battle. Zora looked behind her.

"You better stay behind me," Zora said.

The Kimono Girl made sure to stay behind Zora, while Omelet was sent forth.

"Omelet, take it out with an Extrasensory," Zora said calmly with a smile.

Omelet let loose an Extrasensory and immediately took out the Koffing, being much stronger than it.

The grunt gasped in shock and returned his Koffing to its Poké Ball.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed. "You make me look like a villain!"

"Aren't you?" Zora asked, her arms still crossed, as were Omelet's.

The grunt stepped back in disbelief. "Oops!" he said with a nervous smile. "I have an important mission. If they find out I was wasting time here, they'll make me start over as the lowest Team Rocket Grunt! I better leave now!"

The grunt immediately skedaddled from the Dance Theater in a matter of seconds. Zora and Omelet high-fived and turned to the Kimono Girl.

"Everything's fine now," Zora informed with a smile. "He won't be bothering you anymore."

The Kimono Girl stepped forward and seemed to relax now that the grunt was gone. She smiled back at Zora. "You must be Zora, correct?" she asked. "That was indeed excellent. Kind and strong… Good at raising Pokémon as well… That person does know what to look for in people…"

Zora and Omelet cocked their heads in curiosity. The Kimono Girl chuckled.

"Ohoho! That was just me talking to myself," she admitted. "Never mind."

Zora shrugged, and they stepped down the stairs, though before they could get all the way down, a man in a hat, the owner of the Psyduck, approached them.

"Wonderful!" he praised. "You were so courageous for your age!"

"Oh, it was nothing," Zora said modestly and waved. "It was just a Koffing…"

The man shook his head at her modesty. "It was a rare sight to see!" he continued. "I want you to have this."

The man took out a disc with a label on it, saying HM03. Zora stared at it for a moment.

"Don't be shy," the man insisted. "Take it!"

Zora accepted the HM and put it in her pocket with TMs and HMs.

"That's Surf," the man explained. "It's a move that lets Pokémon swim across water with ease."

"Thank you," Zora said and smiled.

The man smiled back and nodded, then returned to his seat in the audience. Zora looked down at Omelet with a bigger smile.

"Tomorrow, we're going to Cianwood City!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not cheating, it's just evolution!  
> I just want my Pokémon to be strong so they can survive, but I'm not over-leveling, I swear!
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 4  
> Live Pokémon: 22  
> Death counter: 0


	18. The Lighthouse

The next morning, after checking their supplies, Zora and Omelet left Ecruteak City and entered Route 38. They stopped before a patch of tall grass. Zora brought out her notes and Pokégear.

"Alright, there's no Raikou or Entei here at the moment," she said with relief. "So we should be good to have our first encounter here."

"What can we get?" Omelet asked curiously.

"We can get either a Meowth, a Magnemite, a Farfetch'd, a Miltank, a Tauros or a Snubbull. I hope we get a Magnemite. That would be a great addition to our team. Though if we don't get one, we can also get it in Route 39. They seem to be fairly common though."

Zora brought out Omelet and Bambi's Poké Balls. Omelet smiled. "Best of luck!" he said before returning to his Poké Ball.

Zora sent out Bambi so he was ready to paralyze the Pokémon they were going to catch. Together, they walked through the tall grass…

The first thing they ran into was a Magnemite. Zora threw her arms in the air in excitement.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Luck was on our side! Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave and paralyze it!"

Bambi fired off a Thunder Wave which immediately paralyzed the Magnemite, although it managed to also fire off a Supersonic and confuse Bambi.

"It's alright, don't move," Zora said and took out a Poké Ball. "I'll try to catch it!"

Zora threw a normal Poké Ball to begin with. The Magnemite went inside… and immediately broke out again and tackled Bambi.

"I'll try another one, hang in there," Zora said and threw another Poké Ball.

The Magnemite broke out again without shaking the ball, but was unable to move because of the paralysis. Zora threw another Poké Ball. This time it shook twice before breaking out. Afterwards the Magnemite used SonicBoom and inflicted some damage on Bambi.

"It either has Metal Sound or ThunderShock as well," Zora noted. "Neither should be a problem. I'll try again, with a Great Ball."

Zora threw a Great Ball at the Magnemite. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora threw her arms in the air again and cheered.

"We did it!" Zora exclaimed and picked up the Great Ball. "We caught a Magnemite! Good job, Bambi!"

"Yay!" Bambi said, having snapped out of his confusion. "What will you call it?"

Zora thought for a moment. "I'll call it… Voltaire, the philosopher."

The Great Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center after Voltaire was named. Zora decided to return to Ecruteak City and buy some more Poké Balls, specifically six extra Great Balls, having twenty now in the bag and almost no money left. She still had ten normal Poké Balls, three Premier Balls, two Lure Balls, a Fast Ball, five Heavy Balls and four Friend Balls as well, but she liked to be prepared.

After restocking on Great Balls and healing up at the Pokémon Center, Zora and Bambi left the city again and returned to Route 38, this time to fight the Trainers there.

Zora decided to put Kale in the front for their first battle, which was against a sailor with a Wooper. Kale took it out with a single Magical Leaf.

The next Trainer was a lass with a Flaaffy and a Psyduck, so Zora decided to start out with Crisper to take out the Flaaffy with a Magnitude 7, and then Bambi to take out the Psyduck with Thunderbolt.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with the lass, Zora moved on to the next Trainer on the dirt road, a school kid with a Mr. Mime. Zora decided to have Dingbat take it out with two Bites. Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with him as well, just taking his money.

As the kid blocked her path, Zora had to walk around the trees and into the tall grass, where they ran from another Magnemite before encountering the next Trainer. It was a beauty with a Hoppip and a Skiploom, both of which Dingbat took care of with a single Wing Attack each, almost gaining a new level.

They ran on through the grass, running from a Meowth before getting out on the road again. They picked up a Max Potion on the ground, and then they found the last Trainer, behind a fence. This one was a bird keeper named Toby with three Doduo, so Zora decided to have Bambi in the front to take them all out with Thunderbolt.

They plucked a White Apricorn before moving on through Route 38, having defeated all the Trainers as well as getting their encounter there. They walked along the dirt road, walked up some stairs and arrived in Route 39. Zora and Bambi stopped up just above the stairs.

"Alright, we have another encounter here," Zora said and looked at her notes. "We can encounter the same things here as in Route 38. I don't really care whether we get a Meowth, Miltank, Tauros, Farfetch'd or Snubbull here. Let's see what we get."

As they stepped forward, a man walked over to him, though he didn't seem to be a Trainer.

"…Ohh!" the man exclaimed in surprise. "What you are holding is… what they call… a Pokédex! Haven't seen one of those in ages."

"Uh, okay," Zora replied.

"My name is Baoba!" the man introduced himself. "I used to run a Safari Zone in Fuchsia City, but it was becoming out of date with new entertainment options coming out. I decided to go overseas to learn the newest technology and open a state-of-the-art Safari Zone in Cianwood."

"Ooh, that sounds interesting," Zora said. "We're actually going there."

Baoba smiled at the response. "It may be more than a coincidence that we are chatting," he said. "Why don't we register each other's numbers in the Pokégear? I can give you a call once the Safari Zone is open before I call anyone else! Do you want to register?"

Zora thought for a moment, then pulled out her Pokégear. "Sure thing!" she decided. "I'd like to see what I can catch in the Safari Zone when it's available! Here!"

"That's the way!" Baoba said with a big smile, and they registered each other's phone numbers. "I'll let you know over the Pokégear once it's ready!"

With that, Baoba left and went south. As he was gone, Zora now noticed a farm ahead of them, seeing some Miltank standing behind a fence. They decided to check it out. It seemed as if the Miltank weren't giving milk anymore, for some reason. Apparently they needed berries to produce more milk.

Zora went into the stable to see two little girls tending to a sick Miltank. It seemed to need Oran Berries to get better. Zora checked her berry pocket. She only had five Oran Berries and no pots with Oran plants growing. She decided to give the Miltank three Oran Berries though. It seemed to be getting a little healthier from it. It probably needed two more or so before it would be completely healthy again. Zora had two Lum plants in bloom, so she could plant the last two Oran Berries in those pots once Lum Berries had grown on their own plants.

Zora decided to leave the Miltank and the farm, instead heading out to explore Route 39. She found the TM for Drain Punch on the ground and put it away. Before heading for the tall grass, she first faced against a psychic with two Slowpoke, both of which Bambi took out with one Thunderbolt each.

Zora went down the stairs and battled a sailor with a Poliwhirl, Raticate and Krabby. Bambi took care of the Poliwhirl and Krabby with Thunderbolt, and Crisper took out the Raticate with a Magnitude 6 and a Rock Throw, though she didn't seem as interested in the battle as she usually did.

There were two other Trainers between Zora and the tall grass, a man and a woman, both of which had a Pikachu, so Zora fought them both with Crisper and Magnitude, first a 7, then a whopping 10. Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with the man.

Now that the Trainers of Route 39 had been dealt with, Zora put Bambi back in the front to help with their new encounter. They stepped into the tall grass and met a Meowth. Bambi paralyzed it with Thunder Wave, and Zora threw a Great Ball at it. It broke out after a single shake. Another Great Ball, and it broke out after three shakes. The next Great Ball caught it though, and Zora decided to call the male Meowth Cash.

With their encounter caught and the Trainers beaten, Zora left Route 39 and entered the next city – Olivine City. Flags hung in banners between poles, and Zora could smell the salty air from the sea.

The Gym was right at the entrance to the city. Zora decided to go check it out, since this was technically the next city, but before she could reach the doors to the Gym, they opened, and Silver stepped out. Zora stopped in surprise, but Silver had already spotted her and approached her and Bambi. He stared silently at them.

"You again?" he sighed. "There's no need to be alert. I don't bother with wimps like you. Speaking of weaklings, the city's Gym Leader isn't here, and is supposedly taking care of a sick Pokémon at the Lighthouse."

Zora gazed between the Gym and the Lighthouse by the coast. The light was out for some reason.

"Humph!" Silver snorted. "Boo-hoo! Just let sick Pokémon go! A Pokémon that can't battle is worthless!"

Zora and Bambi both glared at Silver in offense, Bambi even sparkling with electricity, making a hissing sound. Silver gazed down at the angry Flaaffy.

"Why don't you go train at the Lighthouse?" Silver suggested with a smirk. "Who knows? It may make you a bit of a better Trainer!"

Silver laughed and pushed Zora aside as he walked off out of Olivine City. Zora and Bambi both stared angrily after him, but then sighed. There was nothing they could do about it.

"Let's go check out the Lighthouse," Zora said. "Maybe we can help that sick Pokémon."

Bambi beamed with joy. "Yeah, let's!"

* * *

After healing up at the Pokémon Center, taking out a beauty's Bellossom with Bambi's Thunderbolt, and then healing up again, Zora and Bambi went to the Lighthouse to see what was wrong with the building and the sick Pokémon. Before that though, they went to a fishing guru's house and got a Good Rod that they could fish with later.

Arriving at the Lighthouse, they learned that the light wasn't just turned off because it was day, but because there was a problem at the top. Presumably, it had something to do with the sick Pokémon the city's Gym Leader was tending to. Zora decided to enter the Lighthouse with Bambi and see what they could do to help.

There was a lot of Trainers in the Lighthouse, so Zora opted to take the elevator to the top instead. There was a Super Potion on the floor, which she picked up. She went and found a locked door to a smaller room, where she heard a voice coming from inside. It sounded like a girl, and an unhappy Pokémon.

" _I don't feel good…_ " the voice of the Pokémon sounded faintly.

" _Don't worry, Amphy, we'll figure something out,_ " the girl's voice sounded very quietly.

"Hello?" Zora called. "Who's in there? Can you open the door?"

There was no answer. Apparently the door was too thick for sound to travel from the outside to the inside, but not from the inside to the outside.

"Amphy," Zora repeated. "Could the sick Pokémon be an Ampharos? It would make sense, since it has amazing electric powers."

"Ampharos?" Bambi repeated intrigued. "I want to meet it."

Zora smiled down at her Flaaffy. "Of course you do," she replied.

Zora and Bambi left through the elevator, going back down to the first floor.

"Guess we're taking the stairs after all," Zora said. "Seems we'll have to fight some Trainers to get up. Let's go."

"Yeah!" Bambi said. "For Ampharos!"

They went up the stairs and started battling the various Trainers that were training in the Lighthouse. The first one they battled was a gentleman with a Noctowl, which Bambi almost took out with a Thunderbolt, but at least he paralyzed the bird.

Before Bambi could take it out with a Tackle, Gentleman Alfred immediately used a Full Restore on his Noctowl, both healing it up completely and curing it of its paralysis. Zora sighed.

"Another Thunderbolt," she said.

The next Thunderbolt took it out, having received a little damage before by Bambi's Tackle. Zora refused to register Alfred's phone number, instead moving on to the next Trainer, a sailor with a Poliwag and a Poliwhirl. Bambi took both of them out with a single Thunderbolt each. Sailor Huey asked for her phone number as well, but Zora declined.

Moving on to the next floor, Zora's first battle was with a bird keeper named Theo, who had five Pidgey, which were easily taken out with a Thunderbolt each.

After that battle, Zora decided to let Bambi rest for a bit, instead taking out Kale to do some more battling. By mistake, she faced against another gentleman that had two Growlithe. Zora immediately called Kale back before the first one could make a move, instead bringing out Crisper to take care of them both with Rollout.

After the battle was over, Zora let Kale battle against a Marill owned by a lass, taking it out with Magical Leaf. Afterwards they picked up the TM for Swagger and went outside. Only, there was no balcony or stairs, instead they plopped through the air and onto the previous floor. Zora screamed but managed to land safely on her feet, somehow without breaking anything, though she felt pretty shaken up.

Kale jumped down after her, just managing to miss her, but also landing somewhat safely on his four feet.

"Are you okay?" Kale asked concerned.

"I'm fine…" Zora said. "My feet feel a bit sore though… I hope I didn't sprain anything…"

Zora took a few steps forward and was relieved to feel no pain in her feet or legs.

"These Running Shoes are of really good quality," she commented. "Thank you, old man. Let's move on, Kale."

They walked around on the floor and found a Rare Candy before returning inside the Lighthouse. They battled another sailor with two Krabby, Kale taking them both out with Magical Leaf. Kale wanted to learn Natural Gift, but Zora refused. After picking up an Ether, Zora stood and stared at a guy by the other wall, almost right next to a ladder. Kale looked confused between Zora and the guy.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Are we fighting him or not?"

"I'm very concerned," Zora said. "According to my research, there's a Trainer on this floor called Juggler Fritz. He had very high-leveled Pokémon, higher than what you guys are right now. I'm uncertain if that guy over there is a juggler or not, or even if he's an actual Trainer. Plus, the sailor we just fought was supposed to be on the next floor, not this one. I don't know what to do here…"

Kale nudged Zora's arm to get her attention. "Let's just go and find out," he said. "I'm sure that guy's not as strong as you think."

Zora gazed between Kale, the stranger and the ladder. She took a deep breath.

"If it is him, he's going to lead with a Mr. Mime," Zora said. "I'm going to sent out Dingbat just in case, Kale."

Kale looked concerned at the stranger. "Okay," he said. "Good luck."

Zora returned Kale to his Poké Ball, instead calling out Dingbat. With a deep breath, she stepped out of her hiding spot, trying to avoid getting spotted by the stranger.

She managed to get past him without him noticing her. They got up the ladder and breathed a sigh of relief as they arrived on the next floor.

"Thank goodness," Zora said. "Let's move on."

They went up the next ladder and saw a sailor ahead. Zora switched back to Kale in the front, and they took on the sailor. He sent out a Poliwhirl, and Kale took care of it with Magical Leaf. For the next sailor on the other side of the wall, Zora decided to have Dingbat out again, as this one also had two Machop as well as a Poliwhirl. Dingbat took care of the Machop with one Wing Attack each, and Kale took care of the Poliwhirl with Magical Leaf.

After the battle, Dingbat glowed white and evolved into Crobat. Zora squealed with joy and hugged her big purple bat.

"My big bat!" she cheered. "You're so big and strong now! I love you!"

Dingbat shrieked with joy as well. "I can't wait to test out this new body!" he said excitedly.

Zora let go of her Crobat and picked up a Super Repel on the floor. She looked around, but there were no more Trainers around.

"Looks like my notes are all messed up," she said disappointed. "There's supposed to also be a bird keeper here with two Spearow and a Fearow. But the next floor is the light room…"

A realization hit her. "Wait a minute," she said. "Maybe that stranger I avoided before… could he have been the bird keeper and not the juggler?"

She laughed at this realization, making Dingbat look at her. "Guess we can safely go back there and train up Bambi some more. Good job, Dingbat, get some rest."

Zora put Dingbat back in his ball, instead bringing out Bambi, and they trekked back to the previous two floors to fight the stranger they avoided. First though, Zora gave Bambi a Sitrus Berry as he had a few scratches.

As soon as they got down on the lower floor, the stranger approached them. Luckily, it was indeed the bird keeper with the two Spearow and Fearow and not the strong juggler like Zora had feared. Bambi took care of both Spearow and the one Fearow with Thunderbolt.

Having defeated all the Trainers in the Lighthouse now, Zora and Bambi descended to the upper floors, until they arrived in the light room. This time, however, they were inside the smaller room, where a girl with an ear-like hair-style kneeled before an Ampharos. It seemed to be sick. Bambi gazed at the Ampharos in awe. He was going to evolve into such one very soon.

The girl turned to Zora upon their arrival, though still kneeling at the Ampharos. She had a concerned look on her face. "…This Pokémon always kept the sea lit at night," she said quietly, to spare the sick Ampharos' sensitive hearing. "…But it suddenly got sick… It's gasping for air…"

Zora gazed concerned down at the poor Ampharos as well. The memory of Silver calling it worthless ran through her mind, and anger started welling up in her. She kept her cool though, not wanting to upset the Ampharos or Bambi further. Or the girl, for that matter.

"…I understand that there is a wonderful pharmacy in Cianwood…" the girl continued. "But that's across the sea… And I can't leave Amphy unattended…"

The girl went over to the door and unlocked it. It opened immediately, allowing Zora and Bambi to step outside.

"…May I ask you to get some medicine for me?" the girl asked quietly. "Please?"

"Of course," Zora said. "We're heading for Cianwood City anyway. We can pick up the medicine for you on our way back."

The girl smiled. "Thank you," she said silently. "I'll stay here with Amphy and make sure he doesn't get worse. Be back soon, okay?"

"We will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 4  
> Live Pokémon: 24  
> Death counter: 0


	19. The Fifth Gym

After healing up at the Pokémon Center, Zora took out Goofy the Slowpoke and put him on the team. Crisper was put in the box, as she wouldn't be of much use at sea nor at the next Gym, as it specialized in Fighting-type Pokémon. She would be safer in the box, placed right next to Fly Boy the Pidgeotto.

Zora taught Goofy Surf, so they could cross the sea. He was only level six though, so he wouldn't be used in battle for now. Maybe later, if she would bother train him up.

"From what I've researched, there's supposed to be a King's Rock in Slowpoke Well," Zora said to Bambi as they left the Pokémon Center and headed for the beach in Route 40. "If we can get that, we could call Sid and arrange another trade, so we can evolve Goofy into Slowking. That could be useful."

"Sounds good," Bambi said. "But Slowpoke Well is in Azalea Town, and that's really far away now. How long will it take to get back?"

"No worries," Zora said. "When we get the fifth Gym Badge, we should also be allowed to get and use the move Fly outside of battle. With that on Fly Boy, we can instantly return to Azalea Town and anywhere we want to go to train any Pokémon we need or might need."

"Ooh, then let's go already!" Bambi said excited. "Let's cross the sea!"

Zora nodded, and they arrived at the beach. She decided to search for items for a bit with the Dowsing Machine, since things often got lost in the sand. There was nothing, however, so she decided to just bring out Goofy, toss him in the water and stand on top of him with Bambi, swimming across the water.

They started by swimming a bit back and forth to get their first encounter, which was a Tentacruel. Zora cringed.

"Oh my- I just wanted a Tentacool, this is going to be so much harder to catch!" Zora exclaimed. "Uh, Bambi, use Thunder Wave!"

The Tentacruel used Acid but didn't do much damage. It got paralyzed by Bambi's Thunder Wave. Zora bit her fingernails, not sure what to do next.

"Tentacruel's got very high special defense, so it might be able to take a Thunderbolt… but it's too risky, plus Thunderbolt is really strong, you have high special attack, and you're five levels higher than it. What to do…?"

"I could Tackle it?" Bambi suggested.

"If you say so," Zora said. "Tackle it!"

Bambi used Tackle but barely did any damage to the Tentacruel. Zora did not like this situation one bit.

"Keep tackling it, I'll heal you if you get low on health," she said.

Bambi kept tackling the Tentacruel, while it kept throwing Toxic Spikes in the water around them. It also used Bubblebeam and took Bambi almost to half his max health. Zora decided to use a Super Potion this time just to be safe. But afterwards the Tentacruel landed a critical hit with Acid and got Bambi down to the same health as before, forcing Zora to use another Super Potion on him.

After that, the Tentacruel landed a critical hit with Bubblebeam and took Bambi down to below half his health. Zora cringed.

"No, no, no, no," she said and healed him up again. "Why doesn't it get stunned?!"

Finally the Tentacruel became unable to move because of the paralysis, allowing Bambi to land another Tackle on it. It then started wrapping Bambi, but Bambi used another Tackle to get it to low health.

"That's enough," Zora said. "I'll heal you up, then I'll try to catch it."

The Tentacruel used another Bubblebeam, not enough that a crit would kill him, so Zora decided to throw a Great Ball at the Tentacruel.

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

Zora threw her arms in the air and screamed, almost knocking Bambi off Goofy.

"OH MY GOD!" she exclaimed and hugged Bambi. "That was so lucky! Great job, Bambi! You did so well!"

Bambi chuckled, laced with sobs due to the tight situation they had just been in. Goofy picked up the floating Great Ball in the water with his mouth, and Zora accepted it from him. She now realized the color coordination was perfect, with the Great Ball for the Tentacruel.

"Let's see… It's a female," Zora said. "I will call her… Cruella."

The ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center. Zora decided to go back there and heal up, as well as buy a few more Super Potions for the journey across the sea. Afterwards they returned to the beach and got back onto Goofy.

Having taken care of their encounter, Zora decided to use a Super Repel to prevent wild Pokémon from bothering them while they were surfing. That did not prevent random swimming Trainers from engaging them in battle, however.

First they encountered a guy named Simon who had two Tentacool. Bambi took them both out with Thunderbolt. Next they fought a girl named Elaine who had a Staryu. Zora decided to let Kale battle the swimmers from now on, as Bambi was already getting pretty bulky. Kale took out the Staryu with Magical Leaf.

After that, they fought a guy named Randall with two Shellder and a Wartortle. Zora was concerned for the Shellder's Icicle Spear, but Kale took out both Shellder without a problem, using Magical Leaf. The Wartortle was taken out with a critical hit Magical Leaf, and the swimmer was defeated.

The last Trainer on Route 40 was a girl called Paula who had a Staryu and a Shellder, both of which Kale took out with a single Magical Leaf each. After the battle, Zora steered Goofy over to a small sandy island which had an item on it. It was the TM for Pluck, which Zora was very excited about.

"If we teach this to Dingbat, not only will he do the same amount of physical damage at the same accuracy as Wing Attack, but he will even eat the berry the target is holding. Such as the Sitrus Berry held by the Gym Leader's ace. This is perfect!"

* * *

Zora immediately taught Dingbat the move Pluck, replacing Wing Attack with it. Afterwards they went back to the water and entered Route 41. Zora decided to keep the repel going, as they could not encounter anything new here by surfing, and if they tried to fish, they would likely end up with a Magikarp, which she did not want just yet.

"Why not?" Kale asked as she explained this.

"I've done research," Zora simply answered. "It's much better if we wait with fishing until we get to the eighth Gym. Then we can get so much more variety. Though I do really want to fish…"

Despite the impatience, the team swam across Route 41, avoiding Trainers, until they finally arrived on the beach of Cianwood City. Zora sighed both of relief and of annoyance as she had just used another Super Repel, shortly before arriving on the beach, thus wasting it.

They went to the Pokémon Center and healed up, then went to the PC and replaced Goofy with Crisper once again.

"There are rocks on this beach," Zora explained to Kale as they left the Pokémon Center. "And here they tend to have Pokémon inside. We'll catch the first Pokémon we find inside a rock, so we'll need Crisper's help here."

"Okay," Kale replied.

They went to the north of the city, Zora switching Kale out with Bambi so they could stun their encounter. She also brought out Crisper so they could smash some rocks. Crisper didn't seem so excited about it though, not like she used to.

"Is there something wrong, Crisper?" Zora asked. "Are you sad about something?"

"No, no," Crisper replied. "I'll smash these rocks."

Crisper went forth and smashed a rock. There was nothing inside, Pokémon or item. They smashed another rock. This had a Revive inside. Zora sighed. Another rock was smashed. A Max Ether was inside, which Zora appreciated more. Another rock got smashed. Nothing inside. One rock left at the moment. Crisper smashed it…

A Krabby leapt from the rock as it got smashed. Its mouth foamed with rage, and it attacked. Zora jumped back with Crisper, and Bambi went forth to paralyze it with Thunder Wave. The Krabby used Bubblebeam on Bambi, but it barely did anything. Zora threw a Great Ball at the Krabby. It shook three times and clicked for capture.

Zora picked up the Great Ball and named the male Krabby Crusty, before the Great Ball materialized away to the PC. Suddenly Zora spotted Suicune in the corner at the northernmost point of Cianwood. She switched out Bambi and Crisper with Dingbat, though she didn't really intend to fight it.

Zora stepped out and tried to approach it, but the Suicune got all excited when she appeared. It howled and hopped around her for several seconds, so fast it was hard to keep up with where it was. After a while, it stopped directly in front of her, and Zora and Dingbat stood and admired the beautiful Pokémon.

Suicune seemed to spot something behind Zora and immediately ran off across the sea, disappearing in milliseconds. Shortly after, Eusine appeared from behind, gaining Zora's attention.

"Yo, Zora," Eusine greeted her. "Wasn't that Suicune just now? I only caught a quick glimpse, but I thought I saw Suicune running on the waves."

"Yeah, it was Suicune," Zora said.

"Suicune is beautiful and grand," Eusine sighed. "And it races through towns and roads at simply awesome speeds. It's wonderful… I want to see Suicune up close…"

Eusine threw his medium-long hair to the side in an elegant movement and smiled at Zora. "I've decided," he said. "I'll battle you as a Trainer to earn Suicune's respect! Come on, Zora. Let's battle now!"

Eusine sent out his first Pokémon, a Drowzee. Zora sent Dingbat forth. As a Crobat, Dingbat should be much faster than this Drowzee, and hopefully he would be able to take it out with a single Bite…

"Use Bite!" Zora ordered, very concerned for her Crobat's safety.

Dingbat bit the Drowzee, but it didn't completely knock it out. However, instead of using Confusion, it used Disable, making Dingbat unable to use Bite again. However, that was a big mistake.

"Use Pluck!" Zora ordered, now certain they would win.

Dingbat plucked the Drowzee and knocked it out. Zora sighed with relief. She called Dingbat back and sent out Crisper when Eusine brought out an Electrode. It was one level higher than Crisper, but the only real dangerous move it had was SonicBoom, and Crisper could take three of those without dying.

"Use Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

The Electrode missed a SonicBoom, allowing Crisper to land a Magnitude 7 on it, though again without completely knocking it out. The Electrode's next SonicBoom hit, but so did a Magnitude 8 and knocked it out.

"I'm not beat yet," Eusine said. "Go, Haunter!"

Zora called back Crisper and sent out Omelet to take care of the Haunter, Eusine's last Pokémon.

"Use Extrasensory, Omelet!" Zora ordered.

"Use Hypnosis!" Eusine ordered.

The Hypnosis missed, and the Extrasensory hit, but again it didn't completely knock out the Haunter.

"Another Extrasensory should do it," Zora said. "Hit it!"

The Haunter used Mean Look to trap Omelet in place, but Omelet immediately knocked it out with another Extrasensory. Eusine was beat, and Zora took his money.

"I hate to admit it, but you win," Eusine said. He smiled. "You're amazing, Zora! I'm starting to understand why Suicune was keeping an eye on you."

Zora smiled with a blush. "Maybe," she said.

"I'm going to keep searching for Suicune," Eusine informed. "I have a feeling we'll see each other again. See you around!"

"Bye!" Zora said.

Eusine left, and Zora sighed with relief, returning Omelet to his Poké Ball and let Dingbat follow her around a bit more as they returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up.

"Well, now it's time to check out the Gym, I think," Zora said. "Or, wait, we were supposed to check in with the pharmacy first. Let's do that first."

The pharmacy was right next to the Pokémon Center, so they went inside and talked to the pharmacist.

"Huh? You need medicine?" the pharmacist remarked. "Your Pokémon appear to be fine. Is something worrying you?"

Zora told the pharmacist about the sick Ampharos in Olivine City and that it was unable to light up the Lighthouse for the sailing ships to see. The pharmacist hummed at the explanation.

"The Lighthouse Pokémon is in trouble?" he repeated. "I got it! This ought to do the trick."

The pharmacist handed over a Secret Potion to Zora, which she put in her Key Items pocket, as it wasn't medicine for her own Pokémon.

"My Secret Potion is a tad too strong," the pharmacist explained. "I only offer it in an emergency."

Zora thanked the pharmacist for the medicine and left the pharmacy. She stood for a while in the sand and thought.

"Should we return with the medicine first," Zora wondered, "or should we take care of the Gym here first? We would get back much faster if we get Fly right away. Perhaps we should take care of the Gym first. Let's go, Dingbat."

Zora checked her notes. And cringed.

"One of the Gym Trainers has a strong Hitmonchan with ThunderPunch, Ice Punch and Fire Punch," Zora said. "It's just one level higher than you, Dingbat, the same level as Omelet. Its special defense will likely enable it to survive an Extrasensory, and while it has lower defense, I'm uncertain if you can one-shot it. If you or Omelet get hit by ThunderPunch or Ice Punch once, you could die."

Dingbat gulped. "What do we do then?" he asked nervously.

Zora pondered. "You can take out the Gym Leader's Pokémon, probably without a problem, once we train you up. But as for the Gym Trainers… Maybe we'll have to train up someone else to take care of the Hitmonchan."

"Such as…?"

Zora returned to the Pokémon Center and logged onto the PC. She looked through her box, at her various Pokémon. She looked between McGonagall the Drowzee, Expeliamus the Abra and Goofy the Slowpoke.

"Drowzee and Hypno have good special defense, but their other stats are not that good," Zora muttered to herself. "Slowking has very good special attack and special defense… but Hitmonchan also has really good special defense, so that might not matter. In that case, even a Kadabra or Alakazam might not be the answer…"

Zora sighed and logged off the PC.

"I guess the only way we can beat that Hitmonchan is to train you up a bit, Dingbat," Zora said, "and then you have to take it out in one hit with Pluck. I'm just really, really worried…"

"Imagine how _I_ feel right now," Dingbat said. " _I'm_ the one who could die here!"

"Although, we did train you against a lot of Hoothoot while you were a Zubat," Zora said in thought. "And you do have the highest health of the team, six points higher than Bambi, our highest level team member. If we train you up just a bit more, perhaps against some Krabby, we can probably handle it just fine."

"Well, let's get on with it then!" Dingbat exclaimed. "Let's fight those Krabby!"

"Yes, let's go."

* * *

They left the Pokémon Center and returned to the rocks outside, on the beach. They smashed rocks, finding items and fighting Pokémon, until Dingbat hit level twenty-eight, at which point Zora deemed him ready to take on the Hitmonchan. That happened after defeating ten Krabby and one Shuckle, as well as gathering four Green Shards and four Max Ethers. They also ran from another five Shuckle as they started to use Bide and kept healing themselves with their Berry Juice. The other twenty-eight rocks didn't have anything inside. Zora also didn't want Dingbat to learn Air Cutter, as Pluck was stronger and more reliable.

Now that she had trained up Dingbat a bit, Zora returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up before entering the Gym. Zora gasped as she saw the Gym Leader, Chuck, standing under a waterfall with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, completely immobile. Zora went over and inspected him. He was so into his training that he didn't seem to notice her.

Upon further inspection, it wasn't actually a waterfall, but a water slide coming from the mountains. Apparently he was using the pressure of the water to train his resilience or something.

"We won't get a badge from him unless we stop that water," Zora said. "Let's fight the Gym Trainers, Dingbat."

The first Gym Trainer had a Hitmonlee, which Zora was less concerned about than a Hitmonchan, since it didn't have any super-effective moves against Dingbat. Dingbat took out the Hitmonlee with a single Pluck, ending the battle.

The second Gym Trainer had the Hitmonchan Zora was scared of. Zora sent out Dingbat.

"Pluck it!" Zora almost screeched.

The Hitmonchan hit Dingbat first with a Mach Punch, but luckily Dingbat's Pluck was strong enough to take it out in one hit. Zora sighed of relief.

"The rest of the battles should be easy enough," Zora said as they walked on to the next Gym Trainer.

The third Gym Trainer had a Machop and a Machoke, the latter of which Zora was worried about because she knew it had Rock Slide. The Machop was taken out with one Pluck, but the Machoke did not go down right away. Luckily it decided to go with Karate Chop, allowing Dingbat to take it out with another Pluck and end the battle.

The last Gym Trainer had two Mankey and a Primeape. Dingbat took care of them all with one Pluck each.

With all the Gym Trainers beaten, there was only Chuck the Gym Leader left. Zora left the Gym, healed up at the Pokémon Center and started training up the team at sea against some of the Trainers there. Again Crisper was left behind in the PC while Goofy the Slowpoke carried Zora across the water to fight the swimmers in Route 41, while keeping wild Pokémon away with repels.

Bambi fought against the Trainers and their Water-type Pokémon. The first Trainer they battled against had a Psyduck and a Goldeen, both of which Bambi took out with Thunderbolt. The next Trainer had four Tentacool, a Staryu and a Remoraid. Bambi took them all out with Thunderbolt.

When the battle was over, Bambi began glowing white, and in the next few seconds, he evolved into Ampharos. Zora squealed and hugged him tightly.

"Bambi!" she exclaimed. "You're fully evolved! You're so strong now! My big sheep! I'm so proud of you!"

Bambi giggled in excitement. "I'm an Ampharos!" he exclaimed. "I finally finished evolving! I'll take out our opponents much easier now!"

Furthermore, Bambi wanted to learn ThunderPunch, which Zora allowed him to, and he finally forgot Growl.

After that, they fought the next Trainer, who had a Shellder, a Tentacool and a Tentacruel. Bambi took out the Shellder with Thunderbolt, then tried out ThunderPunch against the Tentacool, which had higher special defense than defense. It was taken out in one hit. Bambi tried ThunderPunch against the Tentacruel as well, which was also taken out in one hit. Bambi grinned at his newfound power.

Having reached level thirty-one with Bambi, Zora decided to let Kale train up now. They battled a girl who had two Goldeen and a Seaking, all of which were taken out with one Magical Leaf each. Afterwards they fought a guy who had one Krabby, which was easily taken out by Kale's Magical Leaf. The next Trainer they fought had one Qwilfish, which was taken out by two Magical Leaves, since Grass did neutral damage to it.

Afterwards, they fought a girl who had two Horsea, both taken out by one Magical Leaf each. Next they fought a girl who had a Seel, also easily taken out by one Magical Leaf. Zora spotted one last guy swimming around ahead and decided to put Bambi in the front of the team, knowing what he had on his own team. Two Gyarados, easily taken out by Thunderbolt, but they would pose a serious threat if they had been allowed to attack. Bambi was very close to reaching level thirty-two, one level above Chuck's ace, but luckily he just didn't.

Kale's training was continued, and they fought the last girl and swimmer in Route 41, who had a Staryu and a Starmie, both taken out by one Magical Leaf each.

Having defeated all the Trainers on Route 41, Zora decided to swim back to Olivine City and heal up in the Pokémon Center before continuing training. She decided to also stop by the Lighthouse to deliver the Secret Potion to Amphy the Ampharos. She and Bambi took the elevator up and arrived in the light room. Zora presented the potion to the girl while Bambi greeted Amphy, now an Ampharos himself.

"…Will that medicine cure Amphy?" the girl asked quietly.

"Yes," Zora replied. "At least, it should."

Zora handed over the Secret Potion to the girl, who accepted it.

"…Um, please don't be offended…" she said. "Amphy will not take anything from anyone but me…"

The girl turned to Amphy and gave it the Secret Potion. They waited a moment and watched it consume it.

"Amphy, how are you feeling?" the girl asked concerned.

Amphy seemed to wake up, jumping onto its feet and turned to the girl. "I feel great, Jasmine!" he said. "I feel all better now!"

Amphy began sparkling with electricity, having almost too much energy. The Lighthouse was lit up again, now finally flashing light visible from the coast all the way out to the far ocean. The girl, called Jasmine, smiled relieved.

"…Oh, I'm so relieved…" Jasmine said, still quietly despite Amphy's recovery. "This is just so wonderful…" She turned to Zora with a shy smile. "Thank you so very, very much." She silenced for a moment. "…I will return to the Gym…"

Zora stepped aside to let Jasmine climb down the ladder, even though the elevator was available now. Zora turned to Amphy and smiled.

"Looking good, Amphy," Zora said. "Feeling better now?"

"I do," Amphy replied. "Thanks for getting that medicine for me. And you, keep up the good work getting stronger," he added to Bambi. "Maybe one day your light will flash as bright as mine."

"I sure hope so!" Bambi said excitedly. "I'm glad to see you're better, brother!"

"Brother?" Zora repeated. "Getting a bit familiar, are we?"

"Don't you humans do the same?" Amphy asked.

Zora scratched the back of her head. "Well, we do, but… Oh, never mind. Let's get going, Bambi. We have training to do and a Gym to beat."

"Yeah!" Bambi exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

When they exited the Lighthouse, Zora got a call on her Pokégear. It was Baoba.

" _Hi, Zora!_ " Baoba greeted. " _Sorry to have kept you waiting! We've finally opened the Safari Zone!_ "

"Oh, cool," Zora said with a smile. "I can't wait to check it out."

" _Do you know where it is? You know the Gate inside the cavern in Cianwood City? If you go through there and walk for a short while, you should soon see the Safari Zone! We're a little out of the way, but please come visit!_ "

With that, Baoba hung up, and Zora put her Pokégear away. She smiled. Once the fifth Gym had been beaten, she would definitely go check out the Safari Zone and get an encounter there.

After leaving Olivine City again, Zora started training the team against Tentacool and Tentacruel in the coastal waters of Route 40, riding Goofy all the way. She wanted everyone but Goofy to be at level thirty-one before challenging the Gym Leader. The sun had set by now, and the nocturnal Pokémon had come out.

Kale was the first to finish his training, defeating six Tentacool and one Tentacruel. Next was Dingbat, who defeated eight Tentacool and three Tentacruel before he too had reached level thirty-one and being the most important player in this Gym. Omelet defeated twenty-seven Tentacool and one Tentacruel before also reaching level thirty-one. Zora allowed Omelet to learn Wish and forget Sweet Kiss.

Finally, Coco, though definitely not being used in the Gym, was still trained to be on par with the rest of the team. He defeated twenty Tentacool and six Tentacruel before reaching level twenty-nine, learning Bite, evolving into Umbreon and learning Confuse Ray. Afterwards he defeated another fourteen Tentacool and three Tentacruel before reaching level thirty-one. Zora was very happy to have an Umbreon.

Having trained up the team, Zora used a Super Repel and returned to Cianwood City, put Goofy back in the box and got Crisper out. Zora decided not to train up Crisper, as it would take too long fighting enough Shuckle, and she wasn't even planning to use the Golem against the Fighting-type Gym Leader who also had a Poliwrath. Zora went over the strategy with the team, which was to have Dingbat take out the Primeape with Pluck, and have Bambi take out the Poliwrath with Thunderbolt.

The team being leveled up and ready for the Gym Leader, Zora returned to the Gym and deactivated the water mechanism by turning the winch, lifting the slide and stopping the water from falling onto Chuck. Chuck was shocked at the sudden disappearance of the water, and Zora knew he would be feisty in this battle, having been disturbed in his training.

"Ooomph!" Chuck uttered. "The pounding waterfall right onto my head… Arrgh! Why did you stop the waterfall from pouring on me! You just spoiled my training! I have to warn you that I am a strong Trainer training every day under this waterfall!"

"Uh, that doesn't have anything to do with Pokémon though," Zora said with uncertainty.

"What? It has nothing to do with Pokémon?" Chuck repeated in disbelief. "…That's true!" He went silent for a moment… then drew a Poké Ball. "Come on. We shall do battle!"

Chuck sent out his Primeape, and Zora sent forth Dingbat.

"Dingbat, use Pluck!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat plucked the Primeape, but it didn't knock it out completely. Instead of using Rock Slide, however, the Primeape used Double Team to increase its evasion. Afterwards, Chuck used a Hyper Potion to heal up his Pokémon.

"Another Pluck!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat used another Pluck, again not completely knocking out the Primeape. With another Pluck though, it was taken out.

"Good job, Dingbat," Zora praised. "Get back. Come out, Bambi!"

Zora sent out Bambi when Chuck sent out his Poliwrath.

"We haven't lost yet!" Chuck uttered and pumped the air with his fist. "Use Hypnosis, Poliwrath!"

"Use Thunderbolt!" Zora exclaimed.

Poliwrath fired a Hypnosis, but Bambi avoided the attack and launched a Thunderbolt. However, the Poliwrath was not completely knocked out either, and it ate its Sitrus Berry to regain some health.

"Another Thunderbolt!" Zora said.

"No… Not yet," Chuck said. "Use Body Slam!"

Before Bambi could launch another Thunderbolt, Poliwrath landed a Body Slam on him, and the heavy weight gave Bambi paralysis and made him unable to fire his Thunderbolt. Zora bit her lip.

"Try again!" Zora said. "You can do it!"

"Another Body Slam!" Chuck ordered.

Poliwrath launched another Body Slam, and Bambi was still unable to move. Zora swore and used a Super Potion on Bambi, getting him back to full health.

"Use Surf!" Chuck ordered, but the Surf didn't do too much damage.

"Come on, I know you can land the next Thunderbolt!" Zora begged.

Another Surf from Poliwrath, and Bambi was below half health. This time, however, Bambi managed to pull off a Thunderbolt, and the Poliwrath was knocked unconscious. Zora felt a heavy weight off her shoulders, and she sighed of relief. They had won the fifth Gym battle, still not having lost a single Pokémon yet.

"We… lost…" Chuck said in disbelief and returned Poliwrath to its Poké Ball.

Zora wrapped her arms around Bambi but didn't hug him too tightly. "You did it!" Zora praised. "I'm so proud of you! You hit the Poliwrath and won!"

Bambi chuckled nervously, still a bit uncomfortable with the paralysis. Zora let go of him and returned him to his Poké Ball so he could rest. She turned to Dingbat and praised him for a job well done as well.

Chuck crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment. "Hmm… I lost?" he said. After a moment, a grin presented itself on his face, and he barked a laugh. "How about that! All right. You're worthy of the Storm Badge!"

Chuck presented the Storm Badge to Zora, and she accepted it, putting it in her Badge case with the others.

"The Storm Badge lets your Pokémon Fly to any city or town you've already been to!" Chuck explained. "Here, take this, too!"

Chuck handed over a TM, which was labeled TM01, and Zora accepted it and put it in the pocket with the other TMs and HMs.

"That is Focus Punch," Chuck explained. "It doesn't land if the foe you're attacking hits you first, but it's very powerful if it manages to hit!"

"Thanks," Zora said with a smile. "Thanks for the battle, too."

"Wahahah!" Chuck laughed. "I enjoyed battling you! But a loss is a loss! From now on, I'm going to train 24 hours a day!"

"Whoa, that sounds a bit rough," Zora said. "Good luck with that. Bye!"

And so Zora and Dingbat left the Gym with the rest of the team, the fifth Gym Badge in their possession and not having lost a single team member yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 5  
> Live Pokémon: 26  
> Death counter: 0


	20. The Sixth Gym

Zora and Dingbat left the Gym to head for the Pokémon Center, so they could have a good night's rest, but as soon as they stepped outside the building, a woman spotted them and walked over to them.

"That's Cianwood's Gym Badge!" the woman remarked. "Then you should take this HM."

The woman handed over a disc labeled HM02 to Zora, who accepted it. It was the HM for Fly. At last.

"Teach Fly to your Pokémon," the woman said. "You will be able to Fly instantly to anywhere you have visited."

Zora smiled at the woman and put the disc away. "Thank you, miss," she said.

The woman smiled back and left the young Trainer. After that, Zora and Dingbat returned to the Pokémon Center, healed up, took out Fly Boy and taught him Fly, then put him back in the box. They went to the lounge, and everyone was brought outside their Poké Balls to celebrate and talk about their victory against Chuck. Afterwards, everyone but Kale went inside their Poké Balls again, so they could rest up for the night. Zora and Kale settled into the couch and slept peacefully throughout the night.

The next morning, Zora had much planned for the day.

"We have several encounters here," Zora explained. "Firstly, there's the Cliff Edge Gate, where we possibly can get a Wooper now. Secondly, there's Route 47, which has a lot of high level Pokémon, though they're around our level. We can get either a Ditto, a Miltank, a Farfetch'd or a Spearow there. Thirdly there's the Cliff Cave, where we can get a Machop, as well as a Wooper if we can't get one in the gate yet. Fourthly there's Route 48, where we can get a Tauros, a Farfetch'd, a Girafarig or a Diglett. And finally, there's the Safari Zone, where we can get lots of different Pokémon."

"That is a lot," Kale commented. "What can we get in the Safari Zone?"

"Many things," Zora replied. "There are apparently six available areas in the Safari Zone, and it seems Nuzlocke Trainers have been able to catch a Pokémon in each area without a problem. So we could get six Pokémon in total in the Safari Zone. We just have to plan out which ones. For now, though we should focus on actually getting there. We should probably also train up Crisper now, so she's ready for anything we face."

"Then let's get to it," Kale said. "Train her well, Zora."

Zora nodded and returned Kale to his Poké Ball, instead bringing out Crisper. They went back to the rocks on the beach and started training against Shuckle, as Crisper wouldn't stand well against Krabby and Bubblebeam. Plus, training against Shuckle would strengthen Crisper's defenses.

Crisper ended up smashing fifteen rocks, running from two Krabby and gathering one Green Shard, three Revives and one Max Ether, the rest having nothing in them, before Zora realized this method of training was way too inefficient. The training was paused, and instead they decided it would be better to train in Route 48 when they reached there.

However, when Zora returned to the Pokémon Center and was about to replace Crisper with Goofy, a thought crossed her mind, and she went through her notes and Pokégear instead. She hummed and put the notes and Pokégear away, but instead of replacing Crisper with Goofy, she put Coco's Poké Ball into the PC and took out Tails the Vulpix instead. The action confused Crisper.

"Why are you putting Coco in the PC?" Crisper asked, the first she had talked to Zora in a while.

"I just realized that if we go get our encounters here now, we might end up being over-leveled for the seventh Gym," Zora said. "So we'll wait with the Safari Zone until after that."

"What does that have to do with Coco being put in the box?" Crisper repeated.

"The next Gym is the one in Olivine. It's a Steel-type Gym, so a Ninetales would be most ideal there. Vulpix is also the only Pokémon we can get in Johto which learns Flamethrower through training."

"Oh, so we're going to train a Vulpix now."

"Yes, and hopefully we will only need to use Tails against Jasmine, the Steel-type Gym Leader. The rest of you are either vulnerable to their attacks, you're slower than them, or you don't have any attacks that can take them out in one hit."

"You're saying we're weak?" Crisper asked in disbelief.

"No, not weak," Zora protested. "Just… not suited for this Gym. Jasmine has a Steelix with Rock Throw and Iron Tail, which would take out Dingbat, Omelet and you. She also has two Magnemite which can also take out Omelet and Dingbat, though you could probably take them out yourself. I'm mostly worried about the Steelix."

"Won't Rock Throw kill a Ninetales too?" Crisper asked skeptically.

"Not if the Ninetales is fast enough to strike first, and strong enough to take out Steelix in one hit with Flamethrower. Steelix has low special defense, so Flamethrower is ideal to use against it. Of course, we'll have to do a lot of training with Tails here, and to make him as strong as possible, we'll need to go to the National Park and fight Sunkern at day, and Oddish in Ilex Forest at night if it takes too long. Coco will have to wait in the box until after we defeat Jasmine."

"I see…" Crisper replied and fell silent.

"Also, I'll have to put you in the box for a while so I can have Fly Boy take us to Goldenrod City," Zora informed. "Where we have easy access to both the National Park and Ilex Forest. Are you okay with that?"

"Sure," Crisper replied quietly. "See you later."

Again Crisper seemed less energetic than usual. Zora chose to ignore it again, returning her to her Poké Ball and replacing her with Fly Boy. Zora went outside, called Fly Boy out and grabbed onto him as he began flying towards Goldenrod City.

Within minutes, they arrived, and Fly Boy returned to his Poké Ball. Zora went into the Pokémon Center and replaced him with Crisper once again. She brought Tails out of his Poké Ball for the first time since catching him.

"Hello there, Tails," Zora greeted. "We have some training to do."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Tails said. "What are we training against?"

"Sunkern and Oddish, mostly."

"Alright," Tails replied. "Let's go!

* * *

They went to the National Park, and while walking there, Zora explained their situation to Tails. Tails was naturally surprised to know about her Nuzlocke condition and the consequences it had for him and the others, but he didn't seem to be overly anxious or sad about it.

"I mean, it's nothing new," Tails said as they arrived at the National Park. "Pokémon fight and prey on each other all the time in the wild. I'm used to this."

"So Pokémon die often in the wild?" Zora asked surprised.

"Somewhat," Tails replied. "I actually find it weird that Pokémon owned by humans don't die in battle. Often, at least. And even wild Pokémon fighting against humans rarely die, even from attacks that normally kill. Some say that Arceus protects Pokémon from dying in battle against humans, but I'm not sure if I believe that. I mean, how would Arceus even do that? I know he's our creator and everything, but does he have such power as well?"

"I've never thought of it that way before," Zora said. "Or maybe I have, I'm not sure. But you're right, it is an odd phenomenon. Sadly, that's not how it is with our team. So we have to make sure you're as strong as possible, or you'll die."

Tails sighed. "Well, better to die in battle than being left half dead alone in the grass. Let's do this!"

Having dealt with the explanation, Zora and Tails entered the tall grass in the park and started their training. Tails defeated one hundred and ninety-five Sunkern before it got dark, as well as one Weedle by accident. At that point, she and Tails went to Ilex Forest from Azalea Town and defeated fifty-five Oddish before Tails' special attack was almost fully trained. By that time, Tails had reached level twenty-eight, having started out as level thirteen. And Zora was ready to never fight another Sunkern or Oddish again.

After that was done, they got Fly Boy from the PC in Azalea Town and flew back to Olivine City. After putting the bird back in the box, they went to Route 39 and trained against wild Raticate, improving Tails' speed and getting him almost on par with Jasmine's Steelix. After defeating forty-eight Raticate, one Meowth and two Magnemite, Tails reached level thirty-three, after which Zora decided to finally evolve him into Ninetales.

Now that Tails was evolved, leveled up and trained, as well as knowing Flamethrower, the team was finally ready to take on the Steel Gym. They returned to Olivine City and healed up, leaving Tails in the front so he could take care of Jasmine's Pokémon. Zora talked strategy with the team, planning for Crisper to take out the Magnemite while Tails would take care of the Steelix.

"Why the change of plans?" Dingbat asked confused. "Wasn't Tails supposed to take them all out?"

"He was, but then I looked through my notes again, and I realized it will be better for the team if we also use Tails against the seventh Gym, which specializes in Ice," Zora explained. "The problem is that the Ice Gym Leader's ace is level thirty-four, a level lower than Jasmine's Steelix."

"So that's why you only raised me to level thirty-three," Tails concluded. "But do you think I can take out that Steelix, when I'm two levels lower?"

"I don't think that will be a problem at all," Zora said. "Steelix has much lower special defense than physical defense, and since we've raised your special attack to its maximum, you should be able to take it out in one hit with Flamethrower."

"Should," Crisper repeated. "But not for certain."

"Right," Zora said. "There is always the possibility that it might live. In that case, if it manages to land a Rock Throw on Tails, he will likely die."

Tails did not seem bothered by the possible death he might suffer. "Well, then I just have to be faster than the Steelix," Tails said and smiled. "And avoid its rocks. If I die, at least I'll die trying to survive."

Bambi looked concerned at Tails, as concerned as he always was about the safety of his teammates. Tails swayed his nine tails slowly from side to side in a majestic movement.

"Do not worry about me," Tails said calmly, suddenly not seeming like the small, cute Vulpix he was before. "I will be fine. Even if I die, I will be fine. I will do my part to keep this team safe, even if it means risking my own life."

The others stared at Tails in awe of his speech. Crisper seemed skeptical. She wasn't fully convinced of his bravery. They were mere empty words.

Tails looked up at Zora, who also admired Tails' spoken courage. "Well, Zora," Tails said and stood up. "Shall we go battle the Gym Leader?"

Zora smiled at her Ninetales. "Let's go."

* * *

They went to the Gym and entered, with Crisper in the lead, given a Lum Berry to hold. There were no Gym Trainers in this Gym, the only opponent being Jasmine, the Gym Leader herself. There was a man that thanked them for helping Jasmine out, however, and told them Jasmine was a different person when it came to battle. There was also a girl that cheered them on, wishing them good luck against Olivine City's Gym Leader.

Having been cheered on and encouraged, Zora and Crisper walked confidently up to Jasmine. She looked shyly at them.

"Thank you for your help at the Lighthouse…" Jasmine said quietly with a shy smile. "But this is different. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Jasmine, a Gym Leader. I use the… clang! Steel type!"

There was a moment of silence, and Zora just waited for Jasmine to continue.

"…Do you know about the Steel type?" Jasmine asked shyly. "They are very hard, cold, sharp, and really strong! Um… I'm not lying. I'll show you."

Jasmine drew a Poké Ball and sent out her first Magnemite. Zora sent Crisper forth to take it on.

"Use Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

Despite being four levels below the Magnemite, Crisper landed a Magnitude 8 before the Magnemite could do anything. Furthermore, it knocked it out in a single hit. Crisper then wanted to learn Rock Blast, but Zora declined, as it wasn't better than either Rollout or Rock Throw. Then she remembered Crisper had already tried to learn this once, with the same reasons for declining. Crisper seemed a bit disappointed at the decline.

"Steel types are strong," Jasmine said as she returned her Magnemite to her ball. "Go, Steelix!"

Jasmine sent out her massive Steelix, and Zora decided it was time to have Crisper step back and send out Tails instead.

"Alright, Tails, this is it," Zora said, as both Pokémon readied themselves. "Use Flamethrower!"

Tails let out a massive roaring flame, engulfing the Steelix. In a matter of seconds, the Steelix fell unconscious to the floor. Jasmine looked astonished.

"Great job, Tails!" Zora praised. "Alright, Crisper, you finish this fight!"

With a proud sweep of his nine tails, Tails returned to his Poké Ball, and Crisper stepped forward again, now looking more confident and less skeptical than she did before.

"Properly tempered steel won't be made rusty by something like this," Jasmine said as she returned her Steelix to its Poké Ball and brought out her last Magnemite.

"Crisper, finish it off with a Magnitude," Zora said confidently with crossed arms.

Crisper fired off a weak Magnitude 4, not even getting the Magnemite to half its health. The Magnemite landed a Supersonic and confused Crisper, but she immediately ate the Lum Berry she was holding and snapped out of the confusion.

"Another Magnitude," Zora said. "This should finish it off."

This time, Crisper fired off a strong Magnitude 9 and took out the Magnemite.

Jasmine sighed and withdrew her fainted Magnemite. "Well done…" she said.

Crisper looked up at Zora, who smiled widely at her. "Well done, Crisper," Zora praised. "You did great."

"It was barely a challenge," Crisper said. "They couldn't even touch me…"

Zora turned back to Jasmine, who let out a long sigh. "…You are a better Trainer than me, in both skill and kindness," Jasmine said. "In accordance with League rules, I confer upon you this Badge."

Jasmine handed over the Mineral Badge to Zora, who accepted it and put it with the others. Six Badges down, two to go. And everyone was still alive.

"With that Badge, all Pokémon, including traded Pokémon up to level seventy, will obey you without question," Jasmine explained. "Um… Please take this, too…"

Jasmine handed over a disc labeled TM23, which Zora put with the others.

"It is called Iron Tail…" Jasmine explained. "Your Pokémon will hit the target with its hard tail, occasionally lowering the target's defense…"

Jasmine went silent for a moment, not knowing what else to say. She blushed a bit in bashfulness.

"Um…" Jasmine went. "I don't know how to say this, but good luck…"

"Uh… thanks," Zora replied. "Bye…"

* * *

Zora and Crisper left the Gym, now with six Badges in hand. They went to the Pokémon Center to heal up and plan their next step.

"Now that we've beaten the Steel Gym, we only have the Ice Gym and Dragon Gym remaining," Zora explained to her team in the lounge. "Our next stop is Mahogany Town. And before we get there, we have to go through Mt. Mortar, which has that Pokémon that we need. The one with the elemental punches."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned something like that a while ago," Kale said. "Any new encounters?"

"We can catch a Spearow in Route 42," Zora said, "…but not during the night. We'll have to wait for tomorrow to do that. Everything else in the route are things we've already caught. Except in the trees, I guess, but we'll wait with headbutting trees for a little longer."

"What about Mt. Mortar?" Dingbat asked. "Is that special Pokémon our encounter there?"

"Not really," Zora said. "Because it's not wild. Someone is supposed to give us a Tyrogue, but only if we can beat him in battle. We can still catch something else in the mountain. In Mt. Mortar, we can get either a Machop or a Marill. Marill only exist in Mt. Mortar, apparently, while Machop exist both in Mt. Mortar and in the Cliff Cave. In the Cliff Cave, there also exists Misdreavous, which also live in Mt. Silver."

"So what are we aiming for in those places?" Bambi asked.

"If we get a Machop in Mt. Mortar, we have to get a Misdreavous in the Cliff Cave," Zora replied. "If we get a Marill in Mt. Mortar, we can get either a Machop or a Misdreavous in the Cliff Cave. But the wild encounters aren't all that important, since we have so many in our box, and we're doing pretty well with catching them."

"Alright, so how do we deal with that guy who gives us that… Tyrogue, did you say?" Kale asked.

"Yes, that guy apparently has a level thirty-four Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee," Zora explained. "Dingbat should be able to easily take care of the Hitmonlee, but again, that Hitmonchan has the elemental punches, including ThunderPunch and Ice Punch, which could kill him."

Dingbat gulped at the thought. "And these guys are level thirty-four?" he repeated." And I'm only level thirty-one?"

"Yes," Zora admitted. "But again, Hitmonchan has low physical defense and is slower than a Crobat. I am considering that we should train up your own physical defense though, just in case you don't take it out in one hit and it doesn't go for Mach Punch to begin with. You do already have more physical defense than special, however, and your health is still the highest of the team. You might be fine as you are."

"Well, isn't that nice to hear," Crisper said. "He _might_ be fine."

"Crisper, what's wrong with you?" Zora asked tired. "You've been pretty moody lately, and you seem sad somehow. Is there something bothering you?"

"No," Crisper replied.

"Clearly there is," Kale said, having noticed it too. "Stop pretending you're fine when you're not."

"What's wrong, Crisper?" Bambi asked, now also concerned.

Crisper looked around at the team with uncertainty. Her gaze went to Tails, looking at her with a calm expression in silence. She sighed.

"I've been with this team for so long," Crisper said. "And I really felt at home here. It was fun fighting all those opponents of ours, as well as smashing rocks."

"So what changed?" Omelet asked.

Crisper fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Zora. "Then I evolved into Graveler, and then you immediately traded me to that Sid boy, so I could evolve into Golem."

Zora looked surprised at Crisper. "That's what's been bothering you?" Zora asked. "That I traded you to Sid? But you knew you would come back to me, right? I told you."

"It's not the trade that bothers me," Crisper said. "Well, a little bit. That experience stressed me out a lot, even though I knew and I told myself that it was only temporary, and that he wasn't going to take me away, and that you were going to take me back right away."

Zora cocked her head in confusion. "So if it's not the trade that's bothering you, what is?"

Crisper seemed to frown a bit. "It's that you evolved me… just after I had already evolved into Graveler. I never got to try fighting while I was a Graveler. I didn't get to level up. I didn't even get to experience a single day being a Graveler, before you immediately decided to turn me into a Golem. I didn't get to experience what it was like to have four arms…"

Crisper looked uncertain around at her teammates and Trainer. There was a mix of confusion, skepticism and pity among them. None of which Crisper liked.

"I know it's stupid," Crisper said. "Just forget it."

"No, no," Zora said, making Crisper look at her. "It's not stupid. I get it. I was going to use you as a Graveler, but with Sid being there, willing to help us… I just couldn't say no. I wanted you to get stronger as quickly as possible, so you would have a better chance of survival."

"And how could you know if I wasn't going to be able to do that when I was a Graveler?" Crisper asked with an undertone of a snarl. "When I was just freshly evolved? You didn't think I was strong enough, even though I had just become stronger with my evolution. You think Graveler are weak, you think I would only be strong as a Golem."

"No, I didn't say that," Zora protested. "I never thought that way…"

Crisper sighed in exasperation. "Look, I'm not mad at you for wanting me to become strong," she said. "I know why you want that. You want us to survive, me included. And I'm grateful that you care so much about us, and about me. I'm just disappointed I didn't get to experience being a Graveler, having legs, before I was turned into a Golem. But I understand your reasoning behind it, so I'm not blaming you. That's why I didn't want to say anything, because it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is our survival. My anger and disappointment doesn't matter when our lives are at stake."

"That's not true," Bambi protested. "Your feelings matter just as much as your life. Right, Zora?"

Bambi looked up at Zora, who seemed even sadder now than Crisper had just been.

"You're right, Bambi," Zora said. "I didn't think about your feelings when doing that trade. I didn't think about how it might make you feel. I knew Pokémon tend to get stressed during a trade, but people say they get over it quickly. That's why I was worried about your mood lately, because you didn't seem to be over it. But now that I know the truth, I feel even more guilty… about forcing you to evolve before you were ready…"

Crisper's frown had disappeared, instead gaining a somber look as well. "I have gotten used to being a Golem now though," Crisper admitted. "Even if I still haven't fought much. I know you want the best for us, Zora. I respect you. I just… couldn't keep it in anymore. I promise I will do better and make you proud. I want our team to be the strongest, too. I knew I would eventually become a Golem, I just didn't know it would be right away. I needed some time to grasp it. And I think I've had enough time now. I'm ready to be your loyal and powerful Golem now. I don't want to be sad anymore. And I don't want you to be guilty about making us stronger than we were before. Because that's just ridiculous."

Zora saw Crisper crack a small smile on her toothy, reptilian face. Zora smiled back in uncertainty.

"I'm glad to hear that," Zora said. "I promise I will take your feelings more into consideration from now on." She turned to Tails. "And Tails… I'm sorry I didn't ask if you were ready to become a Ninetales yet. I was only thinking about Flamethrower and you being strong enough against Jasmine's Steelix. I'm so sorry…"

Tails seemed more amused than sad or angry. "I never complained about being a Ninetales," Tails said with a smile. "I like this body. I thought I was ready too when you evolved me. Though now that Crisper mentioned it, it was probably a bit rude not to ask me first… But I'm not mad. I don't care. You're a good Trainer, Zora. You've kept this team alive for so long, and everyone seems to like you. I couldn't even lie about you being a bad Trainer. Keep up the good work."

Zora looked around at her Pokémon, to see if everyone were of the same opinion. Everyone smiled and nodded at her in agreement to Tails and Crisper's speeches. Zora smiled back.

"I'm glad you don't hate me," Zora said. "It's late now. We should get some sleep, and then we'll continue our journey tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I never see another Sunkern in this run.  
> It took me 7 hours straight to get Tails' Special Attack to max. That's what I get for EV training in a place where there are more Pokémon than just the one I need...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 6  
> Live Pokémon: 26  
> Death counter: 0


	21. Mt. Mortar

The next morning, Zora had Bambi in the front and swapped Tails for Fly Boy so they could fly to Ecruteak City and venture into Route 42. After replacing Fly Boy with Tails again, they went there and picked up the TM for Shadow Claw. Zora curiously tried to peek into the cave leading to Mt. Mortar, but then a hiker leap out at them.

"Oh, boy!" the hiker exclaimed. "Sorry that I bumped into you. Did I hurt you? Please don't cry. Here, take this."

The hiker handed over a disc labeled HM04 to Zora, before she could even get a chance to speak.

"It's a move called Strength!" the hiker explained. "When a Pokémon learns it, it can move boulders out of your way. Enjoy a happy mountain-climbing life!"

And with that, the hiker walked away, heading for Violet City. Zora and Bambi stared after him for a moment.

"…Let's just find that Spearow," Zora said.

Only, there was no tall grass in the spot they were at in the route. There was water, but they could risk running into a Goldeen. Although, that would probably not be too bad either.

"Should I try later for a Spearow, or should I try now for a Goldeen?" Zora pondered. "Eh, if there's no grass here, it doesn't really matter. Maybe we should just go into the mountain, find a Machop and then find our way through to the guy with the Tyrogue."

"Whatever you say," Bambi replied.

As such, they went into Mt. Mortar and walked around, running from a Zubat and a Rattata before running into a Machop.

"Alright, paralyze it," Zora said.

Bambi paralyzed the Machop with Thunder Wave, but it managed to use Focus Energy. Zora threw a Great Ball, and the Machop was captured. It was a male, and Zora decided to name him Chopper.

With the Mt. Mortar encounter out of the way, Zora returned to the Violet City Pokémon Center and deposited Tails the Ninetales into the PC, so she would be able to accept the Tyrogue once they found the black belt with the Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

However, before leaving the Pokémon Center, Zora paused and returned to the lounge to look through her notes. Bambi looked confused.

"What's wrong?" Bambi asked. "Are we going?"

Zora's lips formed a thin line and she went on her Pokégear to check something. After several minutes she frowned.

"Drat," she swore. "We can't get the Tyrogue yet."

"What?!" Bambi exclaimed. "Why not?"

"We need Waterfall in order to get to the guy who has the Tyrogue," Zora said and put the Pokégear away. "And we won't get Waterfall until we have all eight Badges. In other words…"

"…We can't use a Hitmonchan against the Dragon Gym," Bambi concluded. "We can't have Ice Punch…"

"Exactly," Zora replied somberly. "Well, I guess there's nothing left to do now than… put Tails back on the team and go through Mt Mortar."

Zora returned to the PC and withdrew Tails, putting him back on the team. She turned to Bambi and got his Poké Ball out, ready to swap him with Kale.

"What are we going to do about the Dragon Gym then?" Bambi asked. "Without Ice Punch?"

Zora hummed. "I guess we'll have to go back to Goldenrod and play Voltorb Flip until we get enough coins to buy Ice Beam," she said. "I'll see you later, Bambi."

Bambi nodded disappointed before going back into his Poké Ball. Zora sent out Kale to replace him. The Bayleef sighed.

"So we're going back to that Game Corner, huh?" Kale concluded, not at all looking forward to waiting around for hours.

"Yup," Zora said. "Guess Tails has to go back in the box for a moment while we get Fly Boy to take us there."

* * *

After flying to Goldenrod City and keeping Fly Boy on the team – as they would have to fly back to Ecruteak City immediately anyway – Zora and Kale went directly to the Game Corner to play more Voltorb Flip.

This time, Zora decided to let out her other team members so Kale had someone to interact with while Zora gambled. There weren't a lot of people present in the building, like last time, so the Pokémon had plenty of room to wander around in, and they were well-behaved due to their good communication with their Trainer, so they didn't cause any trouble. Mr. Game allowed them to roam without supervision.

Zora ended up playing a total of one hundred and thirty-three games of Voltorb Flip, winning fifty-four games and losing the rest, before she got 10,000 Pokédollars and could finally afford Ice Beam. Luckily Tails already knew Flamethrower, so she didn't need to buy that one. Now she just needed to find out who was going to learn Ice Beam.

Before that, however, Zora decided to play more Voltorb Flip, as she discovered the Game Corner also sold Silk Scarves, Wide Lenses, Zoom Lenses and Metronomes for 1,000 Pokédollars each. Zora ended up playing an additional seventy-six games of Voltorb Flip, winning a total of thirty games before acquiring 4,338 Pokédollars. Because she was doing so well, however, she decided to play one extra game before losing and quitting. She went to the prize corner and bought one of each held item, as they could be useful later. Her Pokémon looked pretty bored afterwards, but it helped that none of them were alone this time.

As they got back to the Pokémon Center, she went through her notes and came to the conclusion that the most suitable possessor of the TM Ice Beam was Goofy the Slowpoke. While Zora originally wanted to evolve Goofy into a Slowking, she had now looked further and compared Slowking to Slowbro and came to the conclusion that Slowbro may be better than Slowking, due to the higher defense than special defense.

"We're not using a water type against any Electric- or Grass-type Pokémon," Zora said. "And we're not using a Psychic-type against any Ghost-, Bug- or Dark-type Pokémon either. However there are many Pokémon that know Dark-type moves like Bite or Crunch, and there is only one Dark-type move that is special, which is Dark Pulse. Everything else is physical. As such it is better to have a Slowbro than a Slowking. This makes it easier for me as well, so I don't have to call Sid for help."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," Dingbat commented. "But… who do we replace with Goofy, then? We can't be _seven_ Pokémon at a time, after all."

The team looked around at each other. No one seemed thrilled about this anymore.

"We've been together for so long," Bambi said. "I don't know how it will go with one of us gone…"

"Well, I've been off the team for a while," Fly Boy said. "I don't see myself going back anytime soon."

"It's probably not you we're talking about, Fly Boy," Crisper said. "But Tails or Coco. You're in their spot, after all."

Fly Boy looked embarrassed away. "S-sorry…"

"It's alright," Zora said. "You were with us for very long. I hope you don't mind being in the box for so long."

"Eh, it's fine," Fly Boy said. "Not too much room to fly around in the Poké Ball, but it's alright."

"Back to our discussion," Kale reminded. "Who's going to be put in the box to be replaced by Goofy? Is it Tails?"

Zora looked around at the team. "No, I'd like to have a Fire-type on my team," Zora replied. "We haven't had one since… well, since before we got Tails! We could really use him in the upcoming Ice Gym."

They looked around at each other again. "Then that means…" Crisper began.

"…one of us has to go," Bambi said. "But we've been together since the very beginning. I haven't ever been off this team before!"

"Me neither," Dingbat said. "I've been on since I was caught. I've never been in the box before."

"That's right, you were my fifth Pokémon," Zora said in realization. "You and Kale have never been in the box before. You've always been on the team. Before I got you, I had caught Bushy the Sentret, Fly Boy and Buzz Lady the Weedle, and after you, I caught Dummy the Rattata. You and they are my first six Pokémon."

Kale and Dingbat looked at each other and smiled at the realization that they had been teammates longer than any of the others. They looked at Bambi and smiled as well.

"Bambi too has been with us for a very long time," Zora said and pat Bambi on the head. "You are really good against Water and Flying Pokémon. And you're my baby. I can't put you in the box, ever."

Bambi smiled joyfully, and the red gems on his body lit up in joy. Zora looked between Crisper and Omelet.

"Crisper and Omelet have been with us for about the same amount of time," Zora said. "I believe I caught Crisper before I got Omelet's egg… or maybe I got the egg before catching Crisper, I don't really remember. No, I got the egg first, and then I caught Crisper in the field."

Zora turned to Crisper, who looked somberly back, as if she knew she was going off the team. Zora smiled at the Golem.

"You do great against Flying-, Bug-, Ice-, Fire-, Electric-, Rock- and Steel-type Pokémon, Crisper," Zora said. "And with Rock Smash you can also put a dent in Normal- and Dark-type Pokémon. I can't let such type coverage off our team."

Crisper looked back at Zora with big, glittering eyes in surprise. Zora smiled at the sight. Then her smile fell as she turned to Omelet.

"Omelet…" Zora said and knelt down before the Togetic. "Currently your only damaging move is Extrasensory, which has been really good for us in the past. However, your strength is going to decrease as we go on from now. There are stronger Pokémon, faster Pokémon, ahead of us, which could easily kill you. I do have this Shiny Stone… but we already have a Flying-type on our team, and if we need Goofy to pull us through the rest of the way, we'll have an actual Psychic-type on our team."

Omelet looked at Zora with big, glossy eyes, starting to tear up. Zora pat the Togetic on his head.

"I'm sorry, Omelet," Zora said. "You'll have to take a break in the box for now. This is for your own good, as well as ours. I will take you out again when we get to the Elite Four. And then I'll let you evolve into Togekiss. Okay?"

Omelet sobbed and sniveled, but restrained himself from crying out. He nodded. "Mhm," was all he could muster to say.

Zora gave a soft smile and pulled Omelet close for a hug, and the tiny arms struggled to even reach the Trainer's back. The other Pokémon were silent, looking somberly at each other.

"Remember, Omelet," Zora said, still hugging the Togetic, "this is only temporary. I will be back for you. You will get to fly outside again someday. I promise. I'm not doing this because I hate you. I'm doing this because I love you. Because I don't want to lose you. Because I don't want to lose any of you."

Omelet pulled away and stood in front of Zora again, looking up, tears still in his eyes, but this time with a small smile.

"Be patient," Zora said and smiled back as she drew Omelet's Poké Ball. "I'll be back. And so will you."

Omelet nodded. "See you guys later, I guess…" he said before going into the Poké Ball.

Zora stood up and went to the PC. She looked down at the Poké Ball in her hand and sighed before putting it in the machine, which deposited Omelet into the PC. Zora selected Goofy the Slowpoke from the box and withdrew him, putting him on the team. He was still only level six and had never been in a battle with them before. Zora sighed.

"We have a lot of training to do…"

* * *

After replacing Omelet with Goofy, Zora returned the rest of her team except Fly Boy to their Poké Balls, and then Fly Boy took them back to Ecruteak City to venture through Mt. Mortar and fight the Trainers there. Zora decided to wait with Goofy's training until after they had beaten the seventh Gym, as they would have more room for training then. So for now, Goofy would continue just transporting the team with Surf. She put Tails back on the team and Fly Boy back in the box before they left the city.

With Kale in the front of the team and having stocked up in the Poké Mart, they went through Mt. Mortar, heading for the other side of Route 42. Zora wanted to find tall grass so they could get a Spearow, and she'd rather not Surf through the water, as they risked encountering Goldeen on the way. Goldeen could be found many places with water, and Zora wanted the Spearow encounter out of the way so they could get something better later.

Using repels to avoid wild Pokémon, the first Trainer they encountered in Mt. Mortar was a Poké Maniac with a Nidoking and Nidoqueen. They were pretty low level compared to Kale though, so Zora decided to have Kale take them out with Magical Leaf, which was neutral due to their Ground and Poison typing.

They found several items on the cave floor, here among an Ether and a Revive, the latter of which Zora was not too pleased with. They found a spot where a boulder was blocking the way, but it looked as if it could be moved. Zora hummed and pulled out the HM for Strength and checked her team.

"Hey, Bambi, do you want to learn Strength?" Zora asked as she called out her Ampharos. "It's better than Tackle, both in power and accuracy."

"Sure thing!" Bambi replied eagerly.

Zora inserted the disc into Bambi's Poké Ball and taught him Strength, forgetting Tackle. Zora stepped back and let Bambi push the boulder aside so they could pass through to a new part of the mountain. They found an Ultra Ball on a hill and a Max Potion among some rocks. They also found a Nugget below a flight of stairs and an Escape Rope at a ledge.

They went up more stairs and encountered a super nerd named Markus who had a Slowpoke. Kale took it out with a single Magical Leaf, and Zora took the nerd's money from him. Having explored as much of the cave as they were currently able to, Zora and Kale jumped down a few ledges and went past a waterfall before finding the exit from the mountain.

They stepped outside and found a patch of grass, as well as a couple of Trainers. Since it was still daytime, Zora decided they should take care of their encounter in Route 42 first, so she put Bambi in the front to prepare for capture.

After the repel's effect wore off, they entered the grass and encountered a Spearow immediately.

"Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave," Zora said.

Bambi paralyzed the Spearow, making it unable to move. Zora threw a Poké Ball, but the Spearow broke out after a single shake. It missed its attack, however, after which Zora threw another Poké Ball. It shook three times before breaking out this time. It growled at Bambi, but Bambi wasn't impressed with this tiny bird. Zora threw a third Poké Ball, which also broke out after three shakes.

"We can do this all day, Spearow," Zora said. "You will be mine eventually."

Zora threw another Poké Ball, shaking only once before breaking free. Zora sighed. It was starting to get annoying, but she still had sixteen more Poké Balls, as well as plenty of other balls. She threw another Poké Ball, but it still broke out after one shake. Afterwards, the Spearow hit Bambi three times with Fury Attack, which basically did nothing to him.

"If this next ball doesn't hit, I'll throw a Great Ball," Zora decided. "I don't have all day."

Zora threw another Poké Ball, but it didn't even shake once before breaking free. Zora shrugged, and after the Spearow had launched another two hits with Fury Attack, a Great Ball was thrown onto it. It shook three times and clicked for capture.

"Finally," Zora said and picked up the ball. "Let's see, it's a female… I will call you Britney."

Britney the Spearow's Great Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora and Bambi exited the tall grass. Now they could move on to fighting the Trainers present.

Zora got Crisper in the front so she could get some more experience, being the lowest level of the veteran team, and they started by fighting a Poké Maniac with a Nidorino and a Nidorina. Crisper took out the Nidorina with a Magnitude 6, and the Nidorino with a Magnitude 7.

Afterwards they fought a fisherman who had a Qwilfish. Zora decided to let Crisper take this one on as well, since it was part Poison-type. It was taken out by one Magnitude 6. Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with the fisherman.

Afterwards Zora decided to put Kale back in the front, since he was close to evolving. They battled a hiker who had a Diglett, a Geodude and a Dugtrio, all of which were taken out by Magical Leaf.

After the battle, Kale started glowing white, and in a few seconds he finally evolved into Meganium. Zora squealed with joy and hugged her Starter around his long neck and large pink flower.

"You've grown so big, Kale!" Zora exclaimed happily. "I'm so proud of you!"

Kale smiled widely at his new evolution. "Hey, can I learn Petal Dance?" Kale asked.

"Uh, no," Zora said, though still with a small smile on. "It may be strong, but you will get stuck in it and confused afterwards. I think you're good just with Magical Leaf and Razor Leaf."

"Oh, okay…" Kale said, a bit disappointed.

Zora smiled back at her Meganium. "Let's move on, partner."

They walked down the stairs to reach the water. There was a small island that Zora wanted to check out. She deployed Goofy for Surf, used a repel and swam along the water until they reached the island. They found a Super Potion on the ground, and a little distance away, there was another cave entrance. They went inside to check it out and saw a huge waterfall in front of them.

"This must be where we have to go when we gain access to the move Waterfall," Zora speculated. "Let's see what's downstairs."

They went down the ladder and found water. Zora wasn't really up for surfing inside a cave yet though, so they quickly exited again. Upon reaching outside again, Zora spotted a small tree that could be cut. She hummed.

"Dummy is back in the box," Zora said. "Can anyone on the team afford to learn Cut…?"

The only Pokémon on the team that could learn Cut was Kale, but Zora was unsure whether to use an HM on her Starter.

"We practically never use Razor Leaf anymore," Zora said. "Magical Leaf is both stronger and always hits the target. If we're ever in a double battle, Bambi or Goofy will be able to assist you, once Goofy is trained up. Are you okay with forgetting Razor Leaf and learning Cut, Kale?"

Kale thought about it for a moment. He had known Razor Leaf ever since he was level six, but since learning Magical Leaf, he had pretty much never used it anymore. "Yes, I will learn Cut," Kale decided.

Zora put the HM in Kale's Poké Ball, deleted Razor Leaf and got the disc back, unscathed. Kale went into his Poké Ball for ten seconds before returning to the outside, now having forgotten Razor Leaf and learned Cut.

"Well, Kale, use Cut on this tree," Zora said.

Zora stepped back and let Kale step forward to cut down the small tree with… his antennae? Zora couldn't see very well for the surrounding, bigger trees, so she wasn't sure how her Meganium was able to use Cut.

Zora and Kale stepped into the small grove previously blocked by the tree… and was met by a familiar barking sound. They looked to the left and saw Suicune in the corner of the grove, seconds before it darted forward and pushed the twosome back. Before they could get back up, Suicune darted off to the east, faster than their eyes could follow. Seconds later, Eusine appeared from behind them, as they got back up.

"Suicune… How brave it is!" Eusine commented. "How refreshing it is! How beautiful it is! And how quickly it moves!"

"This guy again," Zora said quietly but silenced when Eusine walked up to her.

"Zora!" Eusine said. "You seem to be around where Suicune would appear."

"Yeah, I don't know why that keeps happening," Zora replied. "Raikou and Entei won't leave me alone, either…"

Eusine chuckled. "Well, that's okay. My desire to search for Suicune is far beyond yours…" Eusine looked up into the sky. "My grandpa was… quite into myths. I've heard so many stories about Suicune from him."

Eusine turned away from Zora and looked back in the direction where Suicune had fled. "Suicune…" Eusine said quietly. "I won't stop following you until I've found out what you're after… You hear me!"

Without another word to Zora, Eusine left in the direction of Suicune, continuing his quest for the legendary beast. Zora and Kale shared a glance before deciding to move on as well.

After plucking three Apricorns from the grove where Suicune had been in, Zora deployed Goofy again to swim back to the mainland. They walked along the road until they finally arrived in Mahogany Town, home to the seventh Gym.

Before exploring the town, however, Zora had something to do first. She entered the Pokémon Center, healed up the team, and then she went to the PC to replace Tails with Fly Boy.

"Where are we going?" Kale asked curiously.

"To Cianwood City," Zora replied. "We're going to the Safari Zone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 6  
> Live Pokémon: 28  
> Death counter: 0


	22. Safari Zone

Fly Boy flew Zora and the team to Cianwood City, where Zora first deposited him in exchange for Tails again. Then they went through the Cliff Edge Gate and arrived in Route 47. Zora was disappointed to learn she couldn't get a Wooper in the Cliff Edge Gate until they had access to Rock Climb, but there was nothing to do about it.

As they walked along the cliff, they encountered a Hiker with three Dunsparce. Kale took out the first Dunsparce with a Magical Leaf and a Cut, but got glared and paralyzed by it, so Zora decided to have Crisper take care of the other two. Crisper took out the second Dunsparce with a Magnitude 6, and the last one was weakened by a Magnitude 5 and then taken out by a whopping Magnitude 10.

Zora then decided to have Bambi in the front, to get more experience, as well as healing Kale of his paralysis. They encountered a camper that had a Skiploom and a Marill. Bambi took out the Skiploom with a ThunderPunch and the Marill with a Thunderbolt.

They arrived at a dead end with a Revive on the ground. They walked back to the cave near the hiker and went inside.

"We have an encounter here in the Cliff Cave," Zora said to Bambi. "We can get a Wooper now, or we can get a Misdreavous at night. I don't really feel like getting a Misdreavous though, and I don't want to wait until it's evening before getting to the Safari Zone. Let's just find that Wooper."

Because Wooper was part Ground-type, Thunder Wave would not work on it, so Zora decided to have Kale in the front again so he could poison it. They entered the cave and went up the ladder so they were in the right floor to exit again. They walked around, ran from three Geodude, one Onix and a Krabby before Zora decided that she would just wait with her encounter in the Cliff Cave until evening so she could catch a Misdreavous and get the Wooper later in another place.

They exited the cave and found a pair of Ace Trainers waiting outside. Zora knew they had an Electabuzz and a Magmar, so she decided to have Crisper in the front and Dingbat in second. To increase Dingbat's chance of survival, she had him use Confuse Ray on the Electabuzz in case Crisper couldn't take it out in one hit.

The Magmar protected itself, but the Electabuzz was confused. It did manage to pull off a Thunder Wave on Dingbat, however, but even with the paralyzed bat, Crisper managed to take out the Electabuzz with a Magnitude 10. The Magmar didn't get hit, as it protected itself. It protected itself again against the team's attacks, but in the next turn it decided to go for Flamethrower, enabling Crisper to finally take it out with a Magnitude 6.

Zora decided to have Kale and Bambi in the front next, as the next pair of Trainers they had to face had an Onix and a Cloyster. Kale took out the Onix with Magical Leaf, and Bambi took out the Cloyster with Thunderbolt.

They entered Route 48, but Zora decided to wait with their encounter for later. They went north and entered the Safari Zone Gate. She healed up the team in the Pokémon Center before going into the Safari Zone itself. Baoba approached her with a smile at her arrival.

"Hi, I have been waiting for you!" Baoba greeted. "What do you think? This is a brand-new Safari Zone."

"Looks pretty nice," Zora replied with a smile.

"By the way…" Baoba continued. "I just had an idea. Would you like to take the Owner Aptitude Test?"

"Owner?" Zora repeated surprised. "Uh, I guess, okay? Sure, I'll take the test."

Baoba smiled even wider. "Right on! Let me explain how the test works. It's very easy. All you have to do is to catch one Geodude at the Safari and show it to me."

Zora's smile fell immediately. "A Geodude?" she repeated.

"They are in the grass closest to the entrance," Baoba continued. "It shouldn't take long before you catch one. Good luck!"

Zora looked between Baoba and Kale and sighed. "I'll be right back," she said.

Zora and Kale walked over and paid 500 Pokédollars to the receptionist before being given thirty Safari Balls and gaining access to the Safari Zone. First then could she talk with Kale.

"So what are the rules here?" Kale asked. "What do we do here?"

"Not we," Zora said. "I. In the Safari Zone, Pokémon are not allowed to be used against the wild Pokémon here. It's me against the Pokémon."

Kale looked surprised at that. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked concerned.

"I'll be fine," Zora said. "But I need to go through this with you, so I can better understand it myself. So, the rules for the Safari Zone in regards to the Nuzlocke condition is that we can catch one Pokémon in each of the six available areas right now. There are twelve different areas in total, but apparently we need to be the owner of this place to get access to all twelve areas. And, sadly, we have to catch a Geodude to become owner of this place. Which we can't, since we already have Crisper."

"So what, we're just settling for six?"

"Six encounters is still good," Zora said with a smile. "And even better, the normal rules don't apply to this place. We can miss a new encounter in each area and still be allowed to get another one. Once we've caught a Pokémon in one area, we can't catch more in it, and once we've caught six Pokémon in here in total, we can't catch any more here in the Safari Zone."

"What if we run out of Safari Balls?"

"If we do, we'll just buy another round until we get all six encounters. We can spend as much time running around in here as we like, so we have plenty of time to figure out what we can get in each area. Let's go."

They walked through the Safari Zone, checking each area without going in the tall grass first. Zora wrote down in her notebook which of the twelve areas they had available at the moment. Afterwards they returned to the entrance and went through it.

"Alright, so it seems the areas we can catch Pokémon in are the Peak, Marshland, Mountain, Forest, Swamp and Wasteland," Zora listed. "Let's see… in the Peak, we can get a Magmar. In the Marshland, we can get a Grimer. In the Mountain, we can get either a Lickitung or a Larvitar. In the Forest, we can get a Bellsprout, a Mr. Mime or a Misdreavous. In the Swamp, we can get a Jigglypuff, a Paras or a Murkrow. And finally, in the Wasteland, we can get a Kangaskhan."

"So Magmar, Grimer, Lickitung, Larvitar, Bellsprout, Mr. Mime, Misdreavous, Jigglypuff, Paras, Murkrow and Kangaskhan," Kale listed. "Which ones do we want?"

"I'd really like a Magmar," Zora said. "And that's guaranteed for us in the Peak, so that's not a problem. We also have a guaranteed Kangaskhan and Grimer. In the Mountain, we have to get lucky to get a Larvitar and not a Lickitung. Larvitar is so strong, it would be good for our team. I don't really care about what we get in the Forest, but I'd rather catch a Misdreavous in the Cliff Cave at night. Then again, it wouldn't be bad to get a Wooper there before we get access to Rock Climb. I also don't care about the Swamp, though getting Murkrow would have its benefits later on."

"Well, let's go already!" Kale said. "I can't wait to see these new comrades of ours!"

"Well, let's see how long it takes," Zora said. "Let's go."

They walked into the tall grass in the Peak and ran from any Pokémon that wasn't a Magmar. They finally found one, and Zora decided that she would just chuck balls at the Pokémon, as Bait would make them harder to catch and Mud would make them more likely to flee.

The Magmar broke free from the Safari ball, but didn't run away. Zora threw another ball, and it broke out again without even shaking. It continued watching her, and Zora threw another ball. It shook once… twice… thrice… then broke free. The Magmar had had enough and ran off. Zora sighed.

"No problem," she said. "I have plenty of Safari Balls and money left. We'll just continue until we get it."

After running from several other Pokémon they encountered another Magmar. Zora threw a ball at it, but it immediately broke free and ran off.

They found another one, which broke out of the first ball after two shakes, but didn't run off. Zora threw another Safari Ball. This one shook three times before breaking out again. The Magmar continued to watch Zora, and she threw another ball. It broke out without shaking. Another ball, another breakout, and the Magmar still watched Zora. Another ball, and it broke out and still remained where it was. Even after the next ball it broke out of, it still stayed behind. Zora threw yet another Safari Ball, which the Magmar broke out of, and it _still_ didn't run away.

"Look, if you want to join me, just get in the ball!" Zora said, surprised of its stubbornness.

Zora threw another ball at the Magmar. It broke out again, and still stood and watched Zora. It was almost as if it was intentionally making her run out of Safari Balls, having only eighteen left now. Zora had used eight Safari Balls on this one, and it hadn't run away yet. Was it a sign, or was it mere mockery?

Zora threw another Safari Ball at the Magmar. It broke free, and now it finally ran away. Zora sighed, now having only seventeen Safari Balls left.

"Stupid Magmar," she grumbled. "No matter, I still have plenty of money left to get a Magmar."

Kale nudged Zora in the side to get her attention. "Maybe we should wait with the Magmar until we have caught our encounters in the other area?" he suggested.

Zora stared ahead of her and sighed. "Maybe you're right," she said. "Let's go."

They left the Peak for now and moved into the Marshland to get a Grimer. They walked into the tall grass and immediately encountered one. Zora threw a Safari Ball at it, and it broke out after two shakes and fled. They moved on, running from other Pokémon until they encountered another one. Zora chucked a ball at it, and it broke free and fled after a single shake.

They eventually found another one, and Zora chucked a ball at it. It shook three times, then broke free, and the Grimer fled. Zora sighed. The Safari Zone wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. They found another Grimer, and Zora threw a ball at it. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

"Finally," Zora said in exasperation and picked up the ball. "A male. I'll call you Blork."

Blork's ball was materialized away to the Pokémon Center. Zora had finally caught a Pokémon in the Safari Zone, and now she had only thirteen Safari Balls left before she would have to go back and buy another round.

They moved up to the Forest and ran through the tall grass, ran from a Pidgey and encountered a Bellsprout. Zora chucked a ball at it. It broke out after one shake, but didn't run away. Zora chucked another ball at it. It shook three times before breaking out and continued watching her. Another ball was thrown. It shook three times before clicking for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Bellsprout Bellatrix before the ball materialized away.

They moved up and ran through the Mountain to the Swamp. Zora didn't have enough Safari Balls to go against a Larvitar and didn't want to catch a Lickitung yet, so she opted for the Swamp instead. They ran through the grass, fled from a Sentret and encountered a Murkrow. Zora threw a ball at it, but it broke free after a single shake. It stayed put, and Zora threw another ball. It broke free again and fled.

Zora and Kale continued through the grass with only eight balls left, until they encountered another Murkrow. Zora tried throwing a ball at this one. It shook twice before breaking out. Zora threw another ball at it. It didn't even shake before breaking free. Zora threw another ball at it. It broke free and fled.

Zora continued through the grass, now with only five balls left. They eventually encountered a Jigglypuff. Zora threw a ball at it. It broke free and ran away. They encountered a Paras, and Zora threw one of her four remaining Safari Balls at it. It shook three times and clicked for capture. She picked up the ball and named the female Paras Marsha before the ball materialized away.

"Three down, three to go," Zora said. "And we only have three balls left. We definitely have to buy another round. Let's see if we can catch a Lickitung or Larvitar with what we have left."

They returned to the Mountain and ran through the grass, away from other Pokémon, until they encountered a Larvitar.

"Yes! Yes!" Zora exclaimed. "Oh, please get in the ball, please!"

Zora threw a Safari Ball at the Larvitar. It broke out after a single shake, but didn't run away. Zora only had two balls left, however. She threw the second last ball. The Larvitar broke free immediately and continued to watch Zora.

"Last Safari Ball…" Zora said. "Please get in."

Zora threw her last Safari Ball at the Larvitar. It shook once… then broke out. A voice rang through the Safari Zone.

"You are out of Safari Balls," the voice said. "Please return to the gate."

Zora groaned. "Aw, come on," she complained. The Larvitar seemed to smirk at her before it turned around and left, knowing she couldn't catch it anymore.

Zora returned to the gate and decided to buy another round of Safari Balls, intent on getting a Larvitar… or a Lickitung, if she was unlucky. And she still wanted to try get a Magmar and a Kangaskhan.

Zora and Kale returned to the Mountain and went through the grass before encountering a Lickitung. Zora sighed.

"Please don't get caught," Zora prayed and threw a Safari Ball at the Pokémon.

The ball shook once before breaking free, to Zora's relief, but unfortunately the Lickitung did not run away. She threw another ball at it. It broke free again and continued watching Zora. Zora threw another Safari Ball at it. It broke free and stared at her.

"Just run away already!" Zora exclaimed as she threw another ball at it. "I don't want you!"

The Lickitung broke out again and ran away, perhaps hurt by Zora's words. Zora sighed of relief and continued running through the grass. They encountered another Lickitung, and Zora cringed.

"No! Go away!" Zora said and threw a Safari Ball at it. "Break free and run off! I don't want you!"

The ball shook twice before it broke free, but didn't run away. Zora threw another ball at it. It broke free after a single shake and stayed put. Zora threw another ball. It shook twice and broke free. Zora threw another ball. It shook once… twice… thrice… Zora cringed.

It broke free and ran away. Zora sighed of relief.

"That was close," Zora said.

"If you don't want it, why are you throwing balls at it?" Kale asked confused.

"Because I don't have a choice," Zora said. "I have to catch the first new thing we encounter, whether it's a Larvitar or a Lickitung. Even with the looser rules in here, that rule still applies. If we see a Lickitung first, I have to try catch it, and if I catch it, I can't have a Larvitar. Now, let's move on."

They continued walking through the tall grass until they encountered another Lickitung. Zora grumbled in annoyance and threw a Safari Ball at it. It shook once and broke free. Zora threw another ball at it. It broke free and stared at her. Zora threw another ball. It broke free and ran away.

"Please give me a Larvitar," Zora said. "Or just let the Lickitung get caught so we can get out of here!"

They continued through the grass until they met yet another Lickitung. Zora sighed and threw a Safari Ball at it. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

"Aw man," Zora said disappointed. "I wanted a Larvitar…"

Zora picked up the ball. "A female," she said depressed. "I'll just call her Pinky. I'm not happy with this."

Pinky's ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora and Kale moved on, disappointed with the outcome in the Mountain.

"Now we just need the Wasteland and Peak," Zora said with little energy. "Kangaskhan will probably be really hard to catch, like Magmar. But it's the only thing there we can catch, so we have no choice. Let's go."

They arrived in the Wasteland and traversed the tall grass until they encountered a Kangaskhan. Zora and Kale admired the large mother and its tiny purple baby in the pouch for a moment.

"Well, let's see how long it will take before we catch one of these," Zora said and threw a Safari Ball at the Kangaskhan.

The Kangaskhan broke free after the ball shook twice, however she did not leave immediately. Zora thought the Parent Pokémon would leave as soon as possible, considering it had a little baby in its pouch. Zora threw another ball at the Kangaskhan. It broke out after one shake and watched Zora carefully. Another ball was thrown at it. It broke free again. Another ball was thrown. It broke free and finally ran away. Zora sighed.

"We still have plenty of money to go," she said. "We will eventually get a Kangaskhan and a Magmar. Eventually…"

They ran through the grass and met another Kangaskhan. Zora chucked a ball at it. It broke out after a single shake and fled. Eventually they found another Kangaskhan. Zora threw a ball at it. It broke out and ran off.

They ran around until they met another Kangaskhan. A ball was thrown and shook twice before the Kangaskhan broke out. Zora chucked another ball at it. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora gasped surprised.

"I didn't think we would get one this quickly," she said and picked up the ball. "Alright, there are two of them, since the baby is with the mother in the ball for some reason. Let's see… I will call the mother Mary and the baby Amy."

Mary and Amy's ball was materialized away to the Pokémon Center. Zora and Kale exited the grass and left the Wasteland, returning to the Peak.

"Now all we have left is the Magmar," Zora said. "We have ten Safari Balls left. We could pull this off, but if we don't in this round, we still have money for another round to try catching it with thirty Safari Balls. Let's do this!"

"Yes!" Kale replied.

They went into the tall grass in the Peak until they encountered a Magmar. Zora chucked a ball at it. It broke free and ran away. They moved on until they found another Magmar. Zora threw a ball at it. It broke free after two shakes, but didn't run away. Zora threw another ball at it. It shook once… twice… thrice… then broke free and ran away. Zora sighed.

"I only have seven Safari Balls left," she muttered. "Chances are I will have to spend another 500 Pokédollars and spend maybe one or ten more balls before catching one, thus wasting the rest. Oh well, let's keep trying."

They continued through the grass until they encountered another Magmar. Zora slammed a Safari Ball at it. It broke free and watched her carefully. Zora flung another ball at it. It shook once… twice… thrice… then broke free and skedaddled.

With only five Safari Balls left, Zora and Kale continued wandering through the grass before meeting another Magmar. Zora shoved a ball in its face. It broke out and observed her. Zora launched another ball at it. It broke free after a single shake and eyed her. She hurled another ball at it. It shook twice before breaking free and staring at her. Two balls left.

Zora lobbed her second last Safari Ball at the Magmar. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora gasped and threw her arms in the air.

"Yes!" Zora exclaimed. "We got it! And with one ball remaining, too!"

"Great job!" Kale praised.

Zora picked up the Safari Ball. "A male Magmar," she said. "I will call him… uh… Louis."

"Louis?" Kale repeated.

"I couldn't think of any good hot names," Zora said. The ball materialized away. "Well, we're done here now. Let's leave and continue our journey."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted a Larvitar... :/  
> Maybe I'll get one in Mt. Silver, who knows...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 6  
> Live Pokémon: 34  
> Death counter: 0


	23. Lake of Rage

They returned to the Safari Zone Gate, where Zora decided they would Headbutt a tree to catch a Pokémon. She had a plan for another few encounters, which involved catching Pokémon from a few trees.

They went to a random tree, and Kale used Headbutt on it. It had nothing in it, so they moved on to another tree. A Hoothoot jumped out at them, but as they already had one, they ran away. They headbutted another tree and encountered another Hoothoot. They ran and shook another two trees with nothing in them before they found a tree with a Ledyba in it.

"Okay, Kale, get back, Bambi, get out here," Zora said and sent out her Ampharos.

The Ledyba used Reflect while Bambi paralyzed it with Thunder Wave. Zora chucked a Poké Ball at the Ledyba. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Ledyba Chichi before it materialized away.

They returned to the Pokémon Center and grabbed Fly Boy to fly to Cherrygrove City. There, they headbutted a random tree and encountered an Exeggcute. Zora called forth Bambi again to paralyze the sentient eggs with Thunder Wave. It made an Uproar, but it didn't matter to Bambi.

Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Exeggcute, but it broke out. Another ball was thrown at it, and it broke free again. Another ball was thrown, and it burst free again.

"Fine, I'll throw a Great Ball," Zora said and threw a Great Ball.

The Exeggcute broke out immediately, and Zora sighed. She threw another Poké Ball at it. It broke free again. Another Great Ball was thrown. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball.

"Should I give names to all six, or should they have the same name?" she wondered. "They evolve into Exeggcutor, which is a single being with three heads… Eh, I'll just call him Max."

Max' Great Ball materialized away to the PC. Zora put Bambi in the front so it was easier to access Thunder Wave, before she got Fly Boy to fly them to New Bark Town. They went to a random tree and used Headbutt on it. It had a Hoothoot in it, so they ran away and tried another tree. It also had a Hoothoot in it. They tried another tree. It had an Exeggcute in it, so they ran away. They tried another tree which had nothing in it.

They tried another thirty trees with either nothing or previously caught Pokémon in them before they encountered a Pineco.

"Finally!" Zora exclaimed. "Bambi, use Thunder Wave."

The wild Pineco used Protect, but the next Thunder Wave hit and paralyzed it. Zora threw a Poké Ball at it. It shook once before breaking free. Another ball was thrown. It shook three times and clicked for capture.

"There we go," Zora said and picked up the ball. "A female. I will call her… um… Iron Lady."

After the ball materialized away, Zora got Fly Boy to fly them back to the Safari Zone Gate, so they could get back to Route 48 and get their encounter there. She decided to buy ten Quick Balls at a stand first.

They ran into the tall grass and encountered a Tauros. Bambi used Thunder Wave to paralyze it, and Zora threw a Great Ball at it, realizing she had just wasted an opportunity to use one of her new Quick Balls. The Tauros broke out after two shakes. Zora threw her one Fast Ball at it. It broke out immediately. She threw another Great Ball at it. It broke out again.

"Come on, just get in the ball," Zora complained and chucked another ball at the bull.

It broke out again from the Great Ball, but Zora wouldn't give up yet. Another Great Ball was thrown and broken out of again. Another Great Ball was thrown. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the Tauros Centurion before the ball materialized away.

Zora then had Fly Boy take them to Azalea Town, where they could either catch an Aipom or a Heracross. She wanted a Heracross, and luck was on her side, because the third tree they headbutted had a male Heracross in it.

"Yes!" Zora exclaimed. "Paralyze it, Bambi!"

Bambi used Thunder Wave on it, though the Heracross used Endure, so they could have used a move on it. But Zora wanted to be safe, so she settled with the bug being paralyzed before realizing she had yet again wasted an opportunity to use a Quick Ball.

"I have to remember this next time we encounter something good," Zora said. "I'll throw a Poké Ball for now."

Zora threw a Poké Ball, but it shook twice before breaking free. Another ball was thrown, and it broke out after a single shake. Zora had five regular Poké Balls left, ten Great Balls and five Ultra Balls, as well as several other balls, so she wasn't worried about running out… yet.

Zora threw another Poké Ball at the Heracross. It broke free. Zora chucked another Poké Ball at it. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

"Yes!" Zora exclaimed with her arms in the air. "I know exactly what to call this one!" She picked up the ball. "Hercules is your name," she decided.

The ball materialized away, and now Zora decided to have Fly Boy take her and the team back to Mahogany Town. Once there, she replaced him with Tails again.

"Now that that's taken care of, we can start exploring the town a bit," Zora said.

There was a guy blocking the entrance to the Gym. Perhaps the Gym Leader wasn't present yet. The guy talked about some other guy wearing a black cape, walking between the town and the Lake of Rage to the north, talking about strange radio waves. Zora and Bambi tried going to the east exit of the town, but another man stopped them.

"Hiya, kid!" the man greeted and blocked their way from the exit. "I see you're new in Mahogany Town. Since you're new, you should try a yummy RageCandyBar! Right now, it can be yours for just 300 Pokédollars! Want one?"

Zora gazed between the man and Bambi. "Uh… sure," Zora decided and handed over her money. She got a RageCandyBar in return.

"I remember a person from as far as Kanto came to buy one a long time ago," the man explained. "I happened to have none in stock then. That person left rather upset. I felt kind of sorry for that."

The man stepped back, and Zora tried to leave again, but he saw what she was doing and immediately blocked her path again.

"I don't want to upset you after buying one from me, but… Buying a RageCandyBar has nothing to do with whether I'd allow you to pass through here." The Man paused for a moment. "…Johto has many places to visit, such as the Lighthouse at Olivine and the Pharmacy at Cianwood. Why don't you slow down and enjoy sightseeing?"

Zora sighed and turned back to town, and the man left them alone.

"Guess we're not going that way yet," Zora said. "Let's see if the radio is really as weird as that other guy said."

Zora pulled out her Pokégear and turned on the radio. A strange, unsettling melody started playing. Both Zora and Bambi thought it sounded rather freaky and repetitive to be mere music from the Radio Tower in Goldenrod. Zora turned off the radio again and went to look at a sign beside a house.

"'Just a Souvenir Shop'," Zora read aloud. "'Nothing Suspicious about It – No Need to Be Alarmed' Huh, sounds rather suspicious to me. What do you think, Bambi?"

"I guess it sounds weird," Bambi said. "Should we check it out?"

"Yes, let's check it out."

They went inside the not-at-all-suspicious souvenir shop. There were two men, one of them talking about how worthless Magikarp were but powerful as Gyarados, and the other one stood by a large strange golden dresser, selling Poké Balls, Potions and… Tiny Mushrooms.

"Why would I buy that from you?" Zora asked suspiciously. "In fact, why don't you buy this Tiny Mushroom of my own, which I got from a Paras I caught in the Safari Zone?"

The man sighed and bought the Tiny Mushroom, as well as a Nugget Zora had found, and two Revives that were useless to her. The man also talked about how there was no wind blowing into the room, being just him whistling, which totally was not suspicious at all. Zora also heard something strange from a nearby radio, but otherwise there was nothing too suspicious about the shop.

"Perhaps we should check out what's up at the Lake of Rage," Zora said. "Apparently there's supposed to be a Red Gyarados present there."

"A Red Gyarados?" Bambi repeated. "I thought they were only blue."

"It's probably a Shiny Gyarados," Zora assumed. "A very rare variant in which a Pokémon's coloration is different from the rest."

"Ooh, that sounds neat," Bambi replied. "Let's go see it!"

* * *

They moved on to the north, arriving in Route 43. They had an encounter here, but first they had to take care of a Trainer. Zora put Crisper in the front so she could get some more experience. They faced the first Trainer in the route, which was a camper with a Sandshrew, a Sandslash and a Zubat. Crisper took out the Sandshrew with a Magnitude 8 and the Sandslash with a Magnitude 9. She took out the Zubat with a Rock Throw.

Zora decided to switch to Bambi as they reached the tall grass. They encountered a Flaaffy, and Bambi waved at it before they ran away. They ran from another Flaaffy before running into a Mareep, which Bambi also waved at with a smile. Eventually they encountered a Girafarig, which was the only Pokémon they could catch in the grass in this area.

"Paralyze it, Bambi," Zora ordered.

Bambi used Thunder Wave and paralyzed the Girafarig, making it unable to move. Zora threw a regular Poké Ball at it, but it broke free. She chucked another ball, and it broke free again. Zora threw the last regular Poké Ball she had. It shook three times before breaking free.

"We need more money soon," Zora said. "So we can get more Poké Balls."

Zora threw a Great Ball at the Girafarig. It shook twice before breaking free. Another Great Ball was thrown. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

"Finally," Zora said and picked up the Great Ball. "A female again. I will call you Pippi."

Pippi's ball was materialized away to the box, and Zora put Crisper in the front again so Bambi could rest. They faced the second Trainer in the route, a picnicker who had a Clefairy. Crisper took it out with a Magnitude 7. Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with the girl.

Next they fought a Poké Maniac with a Nidorino and a Nidorina. Crisper almost took out the Nidorina with a Magnitude 5, but it survived and used Poison Sting on Crisper, which luckily didn't poison her. Crisper took out the Nidorina completely with a Magnitude 8. The Nidorino was taken out in one hit with a Magnitude 7. Zora had been worried because she knew they both knew Double Kick, but Crisper had taken them both out without a problem.

After declining exchanging numbers with the Poké Maniac, Zora and Crisper moved on and picked up a Max Ether on the ground beside the gate before moving on further north. Zora decided to put Kale in the front so he could take on the next Trainer, another Poké Maniac with a Slowbro. Kale took it out with a single Magical Leaf.

Zora switched back to Crisper when they were about to face the next Trainer, another Poké Maniac who had a Nidoking, who had been made fun of by some red-haired kid, which Zora suspected to be Silver, meaning he was nearby. Crisper took out the Nidoking with a single Magnitude 8.

After the battle, they went further north and finally arrived at the Lake of Rage, where it was raining heavily. Zora switched Crisper out with Bambi again, since she didn't like the rain, and since they had another encounter here.

"There, do you see it?" Zora said and pointed out at the lake, where a blur of red could be seen.

Bambi focused hard, then widened his eyes again. "Is that it?" he asked. "Is that the Red Gyarados? It looks beautiful. Are we going to catch it?"

"Nope," Zora said.

Bambi looked astonished at her. "What? Why not?"

"We can catch a Magikarp somewhere else where there are only Magikarp and Dratini," Zora explained. "And we will get a Dratini as a gift later, which means we have to catch Magikarp that specific place. Which means we can't catch this Gyarados."

"You mean…"

"We'll have to defeat it. And for that to happen, we have to catch something else here first. We can catch a Venonat in the trees, and it's guaranteed because we've already caught Exeggcute, Pineco, Hoothoot and Ledyba in the other places."

"Oh, I see…"

"It's probably not even a real Shiny," Zora said and pet Bambi on the head. "It sounded as if it might have been forced to evolve, so it retained its red coloration. It's suffering because of that signal we heard on the radio, I bet. We need to calm it down. It's for the best."

"If you say so," Bambi said. "Well, let's find and catch that Venonat then."

They headbutted every single tree at the lake, plus one tree an additional one hundred times before deciding to try another tree. The next tree they headbutted a single time summoned a Venonat, making Zora facepalm because of all the time she had just wasted on the other tree.

"At least we got it now," Zora sighed. "I'll throw a Quick Ball this time."

Zora threw her first Quick Ball. It shook three times and clicked for capture. At long last Zora could pick up a ball containing a Venonat, and she named this female one Puffy because she didn't care anymore.

"And with that out of the way," Zora said and turned to the lake, "we can _finally_ battle that Red Gyarados."

"My head hurts," Kale commented, looking a bit dizzy.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Zora said and got Kale's ball out. "Rest up, buddy. I'll see you later."

Kale returned to his Poké Ball, and Zora and Bambi went to the edge of the lake. Zora called out Goofy to prepare for Surf. Zora decided to give Bambi a Sitrus Berry to get him back to full health before the battle. Goofy descended into the water and waited until Zora and Bambi stepped onto him.

"Goofy, take us to the Red Gyarados!" Zora commanded.

Goofy hummed and started swimming forward. Despite having only used him for surfing so far, Goofy had never spoken a single word yet. Zora wasn't sure if that was the case for all Slowpoke or just Goofy. Maybe he just never had anything to say, considering how short time she spent with him.

Eventually they arrived at the Red Gyarados, splashing around in the water, turning anxiously from side to side, as if searching for something to thrash at.

The team approached the Gyarados from behind, just in time for it to turn and spot them. The Red Gyarados roared with rage and rose high, preparing to attack.

"Bambi, go, Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered and pointed at the Red Gyarados.

Bambi jumped forward as the Red Gyarados launched a Dragon Rage. It did some damage, but Bambi braced through and fired a powerful Thunderbolt. The Red Gyarados roared in pain until Bambi seized his attack. The Red Gyarados fell over with a huge splash, pushing Zora and Goofy back, almost knocking Zora off Goofy.

Bambi landed in the water and watched as the Red Gyarados sank underwater, having been knocked unconscious, but still being alive. It would not rampage more anytime soon. Bambi swam back to Zora and Goofy, climbing onto Goofy's back and was embraced by Zora.

"Great job, Bambi," Zora praised. "You've calmed the Red Gyarados and saved the Lake of Rage! Things should settle down now."

Bambi smiled, having some burn marks from the Dragon Rage. Zora smiled back.

"Let's get back to land, buddy," Zora said.

* * *

They returned to land and noticed a red-haired guy wearing a black cape with a Dragonite following behind him. He watched Zora, Bambi and Goofy as they returned from the lake and approached him.

"That Red Gyarados wasn't acting right," he said, apparently not as focused on Zora as he was at the ring in the lake from which the Red Gyarados had sunk. "As I feared, somebody must have forced it to evolve…"

The red-haired guy seemed to finally focus on Zora, looking away from the lake. "Did you come here because of the wild tales?" he asked.

"Sort of," Zora replied. "I'm Zora, and this is Bambi and Goofy."

"You're Zora?" the guy repeated. "I'm Lance, a Trainer like you. I heard some rumblings, so I came to investigate…"

Zora gulped at the introduction. _Lance,_ she thought internally. _So this is the Johto Champion…_

"I saw the way you battled earlier, Zora," Lance said. "I can tell that you're a Trainer with considerable skill. If you don't mind, could you help me investigate?"

Zora looked at Bambi and Goofy. Goofy cocked his head with his usual smile, unclear whether he understood what was going on or not. Bambi nodded with a determined expression, likely not happy with the fact that someone was making the Pokémon at the lake suffering and forcing them to evolve. Zora smiled and nodded as well.

"Yes, we'll help you investigate," Zora replied.

Lance smiled back. "Excellent!" he said. "It seems that the Lake of Rage's Magikarp are being forced to evolve. A mysterious radio broadcast coming from Mahogany is the cause. I'll be waiting for you, Zora."

Lance mounted up on his Dragonite, which leapt into the air and flew towards Mahogany Town. Zora looked down at her two Pokémon. She returned Goofy to his Poké Ball and switched Bambi out with Kale so the Ampharos could rest from the short but intense battle with the Red Gyarados.

"Let's get back to Mahogany Town, Kale," Zora said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god... I headbutted that one tree 101 times, no Venonat.  
> Tries another tree further down 1 time, Venonat appears!  
> 15% encounter rate, but apparently it's different depending on the tree, because otherwise it SHOULD have spawned in that first damn tree!  
> Well, at least I got it. And the Red "Shiny" Gyarados is GONE! >:D
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 6  
> Live Pokémon: 41  
> Death counter: 0


	24. Rocket Hideout

They returned to Route 43, and the rain seemed to stop, the rainclouds being limited to just the Lake of Rage. They went down the road, avoiding the tall grass this time, until they arrived back at the gate, which they decided to enter.

As soon as they entered the gate, a pair of Team Rocket grunts spotted them and darted over to Zora, blocking her way.

"Hold it there, kiddo!" one of the grunts said. "The toll is 1,000 Pokédollars to go through."

Zora cringed but nonetheless handed over 1,000 Pokédollars to the grunt to pass through.

"Thank you very much!" the grunt said with a smile, and they returned to their respective spots by the desks.

Zora and Kale passed through the gate while glaring at the grinning grunts. They had lost 1,000 Pokédollars, but they still had more than 13,000 Pokédollars left, so it wasn't a huge loss. Still enough to be annoying though.

"He-he-he," one of the grunts said to the other as Zora and Kale passed by them. "We're making a bundle."

"Everyone wants to see what's going on up at Lake of Rage," the other grunt said.

Zora and Kale snorted and left the gate, arriving on the other side of Route 43 and went to the next gate with a normal guard that didn't demand a toll fee to allow Zora and Kale to enter through to Mahogany Town.

Before looking for Lance, Zora and Kale returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up the team. Zora decided to have Dingbat out front first, as he was the fastest on the team, as well as still knowing U-Turn, so he could switch to someone else if it became necessary.

They exited the Pokémon Center and gazed at the not-at-all-suspicious souvenir shop. They shared a glance and nodded before entering together.

When they stepped inside, a tremendous scene happened before them. One of the two men running the shop stood with his hands forth, facing Lance's Dragonite, with Lance standing right behind it.

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam," Lance ordered.

Lance's Dragonite used Hyper Beam and blew the man into the wall with a slam, almost knocking him unconscious. The other man stood by the large strange golden dresser, completely frozen in fear.

Lance noticed Zora's arrival and turned to her. "What took you so long, Zora?" he remarked. "Just as I thought, that strange radio signal is coming from here."

Lance turned away from Zora and approached the other man threateningly with his Dragonite. The man seemed to be sweating wildly before stepping aside in cower. Lance inspected the large strange golden dresser.

"The stairs are right here," Lance said and pushed the dresser forward, revealing a flight of stairs, much to the shopkeeper's shock. Lance glanced at Zora. "Zora, we should split up to check this place. I'll go first."

Lance descended to the room below, and his Dragonite followed right behind. Zora and Dingbat glared at the shopkeeper, who stayed put where he was. The Trainer and Crobat shared a glance and nodded.

"I bet Team Rocket is behind this," Zora said. "Let's go beat up some bad guys."

* * *

They entered the Rocket Hideout and found themselves in a hallway with Persian statues standing by the walls. They passed by the first statue, but stopped as a strange sound was heard. Zora looked around for the source and looked at the statue. Its eyes were glowing red, and suddenly an alarm sounded. Within seconds, a Team Rocket grunt came running up to them.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Intruder alert!"

The grunt drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Drowzee. Zora sent forth Dingbat to fight it.

"Use Bite," Zora ordered.

Dingbat bit the Drowzee and knocked it out in one hit. It was weak compared to Zora's team, as were the Zubat the grunt sent in next. Zora decided to switch to Crisper for this one, to give her some more experience.

"Use Rock Throw," Zora ordered.

Crisper threw a rock at the Zubat and took it out in a single hit. The grunt was out of Pokémon, and he retreated. Within seconds, another grunt came running to replace him.

"It's my turn!" the new grunt exclaimed. "There's no escape!"

This grunt let out a Zubat to begin with, and Zora decided to let Dingbat take it out by himself. With one Pluck, the Zubat went down. Afterwards, Zora sent out Crisper to take care of the grunt's Rattata and Grimer, the former with Rock Smash and the latter with a Magnitude 7.

"Surveillance cams are in the Pokémon statues," the grunt said as he withdrew his fainted Pokémon. "We'll keep appearing until you trip a switch."

With that, the grunt ran off, leaving Zora alone with her Pokémon. Zora looked at the statue beside her and hummed.

"Some training in here will be good," Zora said and turned to Dingbat. "Let's let Crisper have some more fun now, shall we?"

Dingbat nodded and returned to his Poké Ball. Zora sent out Crisper to walk with her. Crisper glared at the Persian statue, eager to put some dents in Team Rocket. They walked on and found another Persian statue by the wall, along with a lone grunt standing by the entrance to another hallway.

Zora decided to trigger the statue first and fight some more grunts. A grunt appeared at the sound of the alarm, also having a Drowzee and a Zubat on his team. Crisper took out both with a Rock Throw each. A second grunt appeared, also having a Zubat, Rattata and Grimer on his team. Crisper took out the Zubat with Rock Throw, the Grimer with Magnitude 4 and Magniude 8, and the Rattata with Rock Smash.

Afterwards, Zora stepped over and faced the lone grunt.

"Feeling lucky, punk?" the grunt said. "Go ahead, take another step. We've got explosives set in the floor! Step on one, and – BOOM!"

The grunt had four Rattata, all of which Crisper took out with Rock Smash. Defeated, the grunt allowed Zora to pass into the room with the explosives. The floor was lined with checkered tiles in black and brown.

"Uh, why are we going into this room?" Crisper asked uncertain. "Don't we want to _avoid_ things that explode?"

"Of course," Zora said. "But naturally they will use Pokémon and not actual explosives. They must have planted Geodude, Voltorb and Koffing into the floor, all of which know Selfdestruct… except for one. The Voltorb in here will be level twenty-three, and they don't learn Selfdestruct until level twenty-nine, so we should be safe."

"Let me guess," Crisper said. "You're planning to catch the Voltorb?"

"Correct," Zora said. "This is a new area, so any Pokémon we can catch in here counts as a new encounter. We just have to trigger a Voltorb here and avoid meeting Geodude or Koffing."

"How do we do that?"

"Um…" Zora said and pulled out her notes. "There should be a Voltorb planted in the first brown tile by the wall. Let's go see. If it's not, we'll run away, and if we can't, you knock it out. You are still stronger than these things."

Crisper took a deep breath and nodded. They stepped forward, stepping onto the brown tile against one wall – the other wall had a black tile against it.

There was a sound and some sparks, and a Voltorb popped out from the floor. Zora and Crisper jumped back to distance themselves.

"Alright, I'll try with a Quick Ball," Zora said and threw one.

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora picked up the Quick Ball and named the Voltorb Boomer. The ball materialized away to the PC, and Zora and Crisper stepped away from the checkered floor, having gotten their encounter for this area.

"Now let's continue beat up some bad guys," Zora said.

They left the room and entered another hallway, having two blue containers by one end of it, and another Persian statue by one of the walls. Zora found an entrance to another hallway and decided to go there instead of facing the same grunts again. They rounded a corner and found a small office by the end of the hallway, overseen by a scientist.

Zora approached the Rocket scientist, and he stopped her from continuing.

"This was once a ninja hideout," the scientist said. "There are traps to confound intruders like you."

With that, the scientist sent out a Magnemite. Crisper took it out with a Magnitude 7. The scientist had two more Magnemite, which Crisper took out with a Magnitude 10 and Magnitude 6 respectively. With the scientist beat, he told Zora that his computer could deactivate the Persian alarm system. Zora went to the computer and pressed the off-switch.

They left the hallway and returned to the Persian statue. Its eyes were glowing blue now, and when they stepped in front of it, the alarm didn't trigger. Having the run of the base now, they moved on.

They picked up a Guard Spec., Hyper Potion and Nugget on the floor as they went through the hallway until they found a flight of stairs leading down to the next floor. They stepped down and found Lance and his Dragonite near the entrance.

"Are you alright?" Lance asked as Zora approached them. "Your Pokémon are hurt and tired. Here, give them some of my medicine."

Lance healed up Zora's Pokémon, which Zora appreciated, so she could spare her own medicine. "Thanks," she said.

"Zora, let's give our best for Pokémon," Lance said and walked on, his Dragonite following right behind him.

Zora and Crisper followed in his direction, but he was already gone. They found a locked door with a sign saying 'The Radio Transmitter'. It seemed that this door checked the voice of the person saying the password before it would open. They kept it in mind and walked over to a lone grunt by the wall and fought him.

The grunt had two Venonat, which Crisper took care of with one Rock Throw each. Defeated, the grunt told Zora that only the one who guarded the boss's room knew the password for that door, but he wouldn't say where the boss's room was. Zora would have to figure that out by herself.

Zora and Crisper walked on and fought another lone grunt. He had one Golbat, which Crisper also took care of with a single Rock Throw. They walked on down the stairs to the next floor and saw Lance and his Dragonite again, standing by another lone grunt, having just defeated him in a battle. Lance spotted Zora and approached her.

"Zora!" Lance greeted. "In order to unlock the door to the radio transmitter, you need the voice of a certain person. The name of the person is Petrel, the Team Rocket Executive! I have found out he is hiding in their leader's office! Unfortunately though, that room is also protected with a password…"

"So we need two passwords," Zora concluded.

"Zora!" Lance said, almost startling Zora. "We need the password to their leader's office first!"

"Well, obviously," Zora said.

Lance and his Dragonite walked away to search one place while Zora searched another. She picked up a Full Heal on the floor and found the TM for Snatch in a corner. Afterwards she entered a bigger office which the defeated grunt had been guarding. The office had a scientist and a female grunt in it.

Zora decided to fight the scientist first, who had two Koffing that both knew Selfdestruct, so Zora wanted Crisper to take them out as quickly as possible. Crisper took out the first one with two Rock Throws and got a Smokescreen in her face. The second Koffing missed a Smog, allowing Crisper to also take it out with two Rock Throws.

Afterwards, Zora fought the female grunt, who had an Ekans and a Gloom. Crisper took out the Ekans with a Magnitude 7, and Dingbat was switched in to take out the Gloom with Pluck. Afterwards, the female grunt told Zora the password to the boss's room, which was SlowpokeTail, but they needed two passwords to enter the room.

Zora and Crisper moved into the next room, which had a male grunt and a scientist in it. They fought the scientist first, who had a Ditto. Crisper took it out with one Rock Smash, before it even had the chance to Transform into a Golem.

Afterwards, they fought the grunt, who had a single Raticate. Crisper took it out with a single Rock Smash. Afterwards the grunt told them the second password, which was RaticateTail.

After picking up an X Special and a Protein from the floor, Zora and Crisper went up another flight of stairs and ran through a long hallway until they reached another lone grunt, guarding the next flight of stairs leading downwards.

They fought him, and he sent out a Rattata, which Crisper took out with Rock Smash. Crisper leveled up and wanted to learn Earthquake, which Zora decided to replace Magnitude with. Next the grunt sent out a Zubat, which Crisper took care of with Rock Throw. The grunt sent out another Rattata, which Crisper also took out with Rock Smash.

They walked downstairs, up another flight of stairs and found the TM for Thief on the floor. They returned downstairs and walked to the locked door of what was presumably the boss's room. However, before they could approach the door, Zora heard someone approaching them from behind. She turned around and saw Silver walked over to them. Zora and Crisper stood steadfast.

Silver looked at Zora silently for a moment before speaking. "So you are messing with them again," he remarked. "Humph, you must really like Team Rocket so much."

"Like them?" Zora repeated. "I like beating the heck out of them."

Silver frowned. "…Tell me, who was the guy in the cape who used Dragon-type Pokémon?" Silver asked. "My Pokémon were no match at all. I don't care that I lost. I can beat him by getting stronger Pokémon. It's what he said that bothers me… He told me that I don't love and trust my Pokémon enough."

"What a surprise," Zora said sarcastically.

"I'm furious that I lost to a bleeding heart like him," Silver hissed. "…Humph! I don't have the time for the likes of you!"

Silver pushed Zora backward before he turned around and left. Crisper caught Zora in the back to prevent her from falling onto the floor. They both stared in the direction of where Silver had gone.

"That kid's got a lot of nerve," Crisper growled. "I'd like to pound some sense into him…"

"Me too," Zora said. "But we have more important things to worry about now than Silver. Let's meet up with this Petrel guy."

Zora picked up an Ultra Ball on the floor before approaching the door and entering the two passwords, SlowpokeTail and RaticateTail. The door opened, and Zora and Crisper stepped inside. A man in a dark gray suit wearing a fedora in the same color sat by a computer, and a Murkrow sat on a pole behind him. Zora approached the man.

"Muhahaha, we've been waiting for you," the man said. "So, you are Zora…"

"That's right," Zora said. "And you are…?"

"Me? You don't know who I am? It is me, Giovanni. The majestic Giovanni himself! Wahahaha!"

Zora and Crisper looked unimpressed at 'Giovanni'. "Really?" Zora said skeptically. "I've seen Giovanni on TV. You don't sound like him. You don't even look like him."

'Giovanni' looked surprised at Zora. "…Huh? I don't sound anything like Giovanni?" he repeated in disbelief. "I don't even look like Giovanni? How come? I've worked so hard to mimic him!"

The man threw away his fedora and ripped off his suit, revealing a Team Rocket uniform underneath, as well as a snazzy purple haircut. It couldn't be anyone else than this Petrel Lance spoke of.

"I am a Team Rocket Executive!" Petrel said. "You must be trying to sneak into the radio-transmitter room. Well, that's not going to happen. That room is protected with a special password. The password is 'Hail Giovanni.'" Petrel noticed Zora's surprised look. "Surprised to hear it from me? Knowing the password won't help you though. The door won't open unless I say the password. It only reacts to my voice."

Petrel sent out a Zubat to battle. Crisper went forward and took it out with a single Rock Throw. Petrel then sent out a Koffing, which Crisper took out with two Rock Throws. He then sent out a Raticate.

"Crisper, use Earthquake!" Zora said, wanting to test out her Golem's new move.

The Raticate used Crunch, but it barely did anything. Crisper used Earthquake and took it out in one hit.

"I… I couldn't do a thing," Petrel stuttered shocked. "Giovanni, please forgive me…"

Petrel returned his defeated Pokémon to its Poké Ball. "Since disbanding Team Rocket three years ago, our Giovanni has been missing. But we're certain he's been waiting for the right time for our revival… Wahahaha! Losing to you won't change the fact that you are unable to get in the radio-transmitter room! You need my voice to unlock it!"

Petrel darted off and ran into a wall. He regained his composure quickly and left the room in a hurry. Zora sighed. He was right. As strong as Zora's team was, they wouldn't get anywhere without the password and Petrel's voice…

The Murkrow left its post and flew over to the chair Petrel had just been sitting in. It landed on the back.

"Hail Giovanni," the Murkrow said, mimicking the voice of Petrel. Perhaps they could use it to open the door.

The Murkrow nodded and took off, flying out of the room. Zora and Crisper followed after it upstairs, where it sat on the floor and waited for them.

"The password is… Hail Giovanni," the Murkrow repeated and took off again, apparently wanting to help Zora out. They followed after it through the hallway and downstairs, where it was waiting for them.

"Hail Giovanni," the Murkrow repeated and took off again. They followed after it and went upstairs to the floor where the radio-transmitter room was located. The Murkrow sat on the floor and waited for them.

"The password is… Hail Giovanni," the Murkrow repeated and took off again, leading the team to the door to the room. They saw the Murkrow look at the door and jump as it heard them arrive. "The password is… Hail Giovanni."

Murkrow screamed the password, mimicking the voice of Petrel. After a moment, the voice-recognition system unlocked the door. The Murkrow leapt into the air and took off again to the left. Zora and Crisper walked into the room.

"Hold it right there!" someone shouted.

Zora and Crisper exited the room and saw a Team Rocket grunt and a woman with long red hair in a similar style to Silver, dressed in a white uniform, approach them. The woman had a nametag that said 'Ariana' on it.

"We can't let a brat like you do as you please forever," Ariana said. "It'll hurt Team Rocket's pride over and over again. Making it lessen, you see. So it's time to finish you. However strong you may be, if the two of us fight at the same time, you'll have no chance of winning. Don't you agree? Hee hee hee! Sorry, baby. Now, get ready to be thrashed."

Suddenly, Lance and his Dragonite appeared from the hallway in which the Murkrow had flown off to, and he stepped up beside Zora.

"Hold it!" Lance said. "A two-on-one battle? That is so unfair! Typical of Team Rocket to be so sneaky. Allow me to join the battle!"

Dragonite cried out, eager for battle. Ariana looked astonished.

"What? You had an accomplice?" she remarked. "Where is your sense of dignity? As interim boss in place of Giovanni, I'll show you how wrong it is to meddle with Team Rocket!"

Ariana and the grunt drew their Poké Balls, sending out an Arbok and a Drowzee respectively. Zora sent forth Crisper, and Lance's Dragonite stepped forward.

"Use Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Use Fly, Dragonite!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite avoided the Earthquake, but Arbok and Drowzee went down right away. Ariana sent out a Murkrow, and the grunt sent out a Grimer. Zora hummed.

 _Should I Earthquake to take out the Grimer or Rock Throw to take out the Murkrow?_ she thought in speculation. _I don't know which Pokémon Dragonite is going to take down. If it's aiming for Grimer, an Earthquake will be useless. Perhaps a Rock Throw will do._ "Use Rock Throw on Murkrow, Crisper!"

Dragonite used Fly on Grimer, taking it out. The Murkrow used Night Shade on Crisper and almost took her down to half health, but she took it out with a Rock Throw. Ariana sent out her last Pokémon, a Gloom.

"Another Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

Dragonite took off to Fly again and avoided the Earthquake. Crisper got the Gloom down to half health with Earthquake.

"Use Mega Drain!" Ariana ordered.

Zora cringed. "No," she exclaimed.

Gloom used Mega Drain and drained the life from Crisper. Zora watched with terror as Crisper got weaker and weaker, her health dropping down…

…and stopped with three HP remaining. Zora gasped and shook all over her body.

"OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SO CLOSE!" Zora cried out and pulled out a Hyper Potion. "Crisper, I'm so sorry, here!"

Crisper's health was restored to full, and Dragonite took out the Gloom with its Fly. Zora didn't hear what they were saying. She had almost lost Crisper. Had that Mega Drain been a critical hit, Crisper would have died. It was pure luck that Crisper survived.

"But that's fine," Ariana said, returning Zora to attention. "The broadcast experiment was a total success. It doesn't matter what happens to this hideout now. We have much bigger plans. You'll come to appreciate Team Rocket's true power soon enough. Enjoy yourself while you can… Hee hee hee…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fffffrick, that was close!  
> I just watched Crisper's life flash before my eyes. I legitimately thought this was the end for her when the HP bar went down in the red... AND THEN IT STOPPED AT 3!!!  
> The Gloom was level 25, Crisper was 34 and had lost almost half her max HP from Night Shade and maybe Assurance from earlier. Mega Drain is a special Grass move, 4x effective against Golem, which has low special defense. I think if Crisper was just one level lower, she WOULD have died!  
> I usually check my next opponents' moves so I know what to look out for, but this time I forgot, and I almost lost Crisper... Thank Arceus for Lance and his Dragonite! And for Hyper Potions!  
> Crisper is a trooper, she's not ready to die yet!  
> Hopefully the Ice Gym will go more smoothly than this fight...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 6  
> Live Pokémon: 42  
> Death counter: 0


	25. The Seventh Gym

Ariana and the grunt left. Zora returned her attention to Crisper.

"Crisper, I am so sorry," she repeated. "I underestimated the Gloom, I should have switched you out with Dingbat, you almost died…"

"But I didn't," Crisper pointed out. "It was a pretty close call… but I'm still alive. I won't go down so easy."

Lance put a hand on Zora's shoulder to get her attention. "Sorry, Zora," Lance said. "I saw how well you were doing, so I just hung back."

"Don't apologize," Zora said. "I couldn't have done this without you. You saved my Golem."

Lance smiled for a moment, then it fell. "Now all there is left to do is to turn off that odd radio signal."

They walked into the room together and inspected the huge machine. Six Electrode were connected to the machine, giving it power, three in each end. After inspection, Lance returned to Zora's side.

"It's this machine that's causing all the problems," Lance said. "I don't see a switch on it… We have no choice. We have to make all the Electrode faint. That should stop this machine from transmitting that strange signal. It's no fault of the Electrode, so it makes me feel sad. Zora, let's split the job."

Lance and his Dragonite went to one end of the room while Zora and Crisper went to the other end. Zora turned to Crisper.

"Are you up for three more Earthquakes?" Zora asked. "Or should someone else fight for you? You're pretty strong now, you might get over-leveled for the Gym…"

"I can Earthquake them if you need me to," Crisper said. "But if it's to avoid getting me over-leveled, perhaps one of the others can handle it. They don't know Selfdestruct, do they?"

"They shouldn't," Zora said and looked at the Electrode. "They should probably know Light Screen, Screech, Rollout and Spark. Dingbat can't take them on. Maybe Kale…"

Zora decided to switch out Crisper with Kale, as the Golem had reached level thirty-four, the same as the Gym Leader's ace, while Kale was only level thirty-two. Kale had good defenses and resisted Electric, while Electrode didn't resist Grass. They could either have Static or Soundproof as abilities, but they had lower defense than special defense, and they could be poisoned with PoisonPowder.

"Let's do this, Kale," Zora said.

"I'm ready," Kale said.

They stepped over to the Electrode and interacted with the first one.

"Use Magical Leaf, just to see how much it does," Zora ordered.

The Electrode missed a Screech and got quite weakened by Magical Leaf. With another Magical Leaf, it was taken out.

"That went well," Kale said. "The others should probably be easy too, right?"

"Hopefully so," Zora said. "Let's keep going."

They faced the second Electrode. It used Rollout but did almost nothing to Kale. Kale used Magical Leaf and almost took it out. A second Magical Leaf took it out. They faced the last Electrode, which used Light Screen and didn't take much damage from Magical Leaf. With two Headbutts though, it fainted.

With the Electrode beaten, Zora and Kale met up with Lance and his Dragonite by the entrance.

"That odd signal has finally stopped," Lance informed. "The lake should be back to normal. You're the best!"

Zora smiled shyly. "I couldn't have done it without my Pokémon," she said and stroke Kale on his long neck.

"Let me thank you on behalf of all the Pokémon," Lance said. "Oh yes. You should take this. I found it here, but I don't have any need for it."

Lance gave Zora a disc labeled HM05, which she put away.

"That's Whirlpool," Lance explained. "Teach it to a Pokémon to get across wild water. But keep this in mind. You can use that out of battle only with the Badge from Mahogany Gym."

"I'll remember that," Zora said.

Lance faced the exit of the room. "Zora…" he said. "The journey to becoming the Pokémon Champion is long and difficult. Knowing that, will you keep going?"

Zora thought in silence. Almost losing Crisper had been so stressful, she couldn't imagine how she would feel if one of her Pokémon actually died. She had questioned now and again why she had decided to go on this journey even after learning about her Nuzlocke condition. It would have been safer to just stay home, go to school, get a job and live a normal, boring life with Pokémon as mere pets.

But Zora had wanted to be a Trainer ever since she first learned of Trainers. Giving up on that dream would break her heart. Besides, even if she decided to live a normal life, she would still have the curse. Her Pokémon could still die. This was the only way to lift it, even if it meant risking her Pokémon's lives. She just had to make sure to keep them alive, which she had managed to do perfectly up until this point.

A mistake had almost killed Crisper. Zora would not make that mistake again. She wouldn't lose anyone. Lance observed her silence and hummed.

"I see," Lance said. "No, you're right. If you would give up that easily, you would have never chased that dream in the first place. I look forward to seeing you again!"

With that, Lance and his Dragonite left Zora and Kale behind to leave the hideout on their own.

"Let's return to the Pokémon Center and prepare for the Gym."

* * *

They left the hideout and returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up the team. The man who had previously blocked the entrance to the Gym had left, so Zora assumed the Gym Leader was back again. Or perhaps the Gym was closed off until the issue with Team Rocket and the Lake of Rage had been solved.

Regardless, Zora went to the lounge and started talking strategy with her Pokémon. It was evening by now, and the nocturnal Pokémon had come out.

"Alright, the first Gym Trainer has a Jynx," Zora explained. "Tails can take it out with Flamethrower. However, just to be certain, we will go back to Azalea Town in the morning, as the people with Farfetch'd have a Charcoal for us. That will boost Tails' Fire-type moves, making Flamethrower even stronger. As such, he should be able to take out the Ice Pokémon in one hit."

"So we're taking a night's rest?" Tails asked.

"Yes," Zora replied. "We've done a lot today, we need to rest. I will go through this with you again tomorrow when we return, but let's just go over it now. The second Gym Trainer has two Swinub, which I think Tails can also take care of, as their health and special defense aren't impressive, and they're much slower than a Ninetales."

"Very well," Tails said. "I shall take care of the first two Gym Trainers."

"The third Gym Trainer has two Seel and a Dewgong," Zora continued. "The fourth Trainer has a Shellder, Cloyster and Seel, and the fifth and final Gym Trainer has one Dewgong. I think Kale can take out the Seel and Shellder, as they are pure Water-type and thus will not do extra damage with whatever Ice attacks they have. Bambi can take care of the Dewgong and Cloyster with Thunderbolt."

"Sounds like a plan," Kale said. "I'm down for it. I haven't participated much in Gyms anyway."

"I'll do my best," Bambi said.

"What about the Gym Leader?" Crisper asked.

"Gym Leader Pryce has a Seel, Dewgong and Piloswine," Zora explained. "I think Bambi can take care of the Seel and Dewgong with Thunderbolt. Tails will have to take care of the Piloswine with Flamethrower though. It knows Ice Fang and Blizzard, which won't be good for Kale, and it also knows Mud Bomb which is bad for Bambi."

"But Tails is weak to Ground too," Dingbat pointed out.

"True, but Mud Bomb is a special attack, and Ninetales have high special defense," Zora explained. "Plus its accuracy isn't perfect. It might miss. Besides, we have trained up Tails' special attack to max, he will hold a Charcoal to boost his Fire-type moves, Flamethrower is a powerful special move, its power is increased because of Tails' own Fire-type, it's super-effective against Piloswine, and Piloswine has lower special defense than physical defense. Its health is a bit high though, but I believe with the other factors, it should go down in one hit. Plus, Tails is faster, so he will hit first. And if he doesn't take it out in one hit, he should be able to take a single Mud Bomb. Blizzard is powerful, but also special, and Tails resists Ice, so he should be fine if the Piloswine uses Blizzard."

Zora looked around at her Pokémon. They seemed attentive, though she could tell they were getting drowsy. Goofy was already asleep, not having to worry about all this, as he would not be used in this Gym. Zora sighed.

"Like I said, I'll go through this with you again tomorrow," Zora said. "For now, let's get some rest."

* * *

The next morning, Zora got Fly Boy out to fly them to Azalea Town, grab the Charcoal from the Farfetch'd people and fly back to Mahogany Town and put Tails back on the team. Making sure they had enough medicine, Zora left the Pokémon Center with Tails in the front, and they went to the Gym to fight the Gym Trainers.

As predicted, the first Gym Trainer had a Jynx. Tails took it out with a single Flamethrower. They moved on to the second Trainer who had two Swinub. Both were taken out by one Flamethrower each, and Tails grew to level thirty-four.

Switching Tails out with Kale and solving the room's puzzle, they moved on to the next room and fought the next Trainer, who had two Seel and a Dewgong. Kale took out the first Seel with a single Magical Leaf. Zora switched in Bambi to take care of the Dewgong, which went down with one Thunderbolt. Zora switched back to Kale to take out the other Seel with Magical Leaf, and the Trainer was beaten.

Zora moved on to the next Trainer, who had a Shellder, Seel and Cloyster. Kale took out the Shellder and Seel with one Magical Leaf each, and Bambi took out the Cloyster with a single Thunderbolt. Kale reached level thirty-four as well and wanted to learn Sweet Scent, but Zora refused.

Zora put Bambi in front to take care of the last Gym Trainer, who had one Dewgong. The Dewgong hit first with Ice Shard but barely did any damage, even with a crit, and it was quickly taken down with a single Thunderbolt. With the final Gym Trainer beaten, Bambi reached level thirty-four as well and wanted to learn Discharge. Zora refused, as ThunderPunch was a good physical Electric move, and Thunderbolt was much stronger.

Before challenging Pryce, Zora wanted to get Dingbat up to level thirty-four as well, even though he wasn't going to participate in the battle. She wanted all the veteran members of the team to be on par with each other. So Zora left the Gym, healed up the team at the Pokémon Center and replaced Tails with Fly Boy so they could instantly fly to the Lake of Rage to train up Dingbat.

Today the tide was low and it wasn't raining, so Zora could get to new places there now. There were a few Trainers also present at the lake which Zora could battle. Every Trainer had Pokémon Dingbat could stand a chance against, except for one who had a Mareep. She was uncertain whether to use Crisper against this one, but she would figure it out.

Incidentally, the very first Trainer she fought was the Ace Trainer with a Mareep. Zora called Dingbat back and sent out Crisper, so at least the experience would be less for both of them. Crisper took it out with a single Earthquake and barely got any experience from it. Dingbat took out the Trainer's Ninetales with two Plucks. The Trainer was beaten, and her money taken.

Zora moved down the stairs and sprayed a Super Repel to avoid wild Pokémon from attacking. Afterwards she deployed Goofy to Surf across the water to new land. They found a Full Heal on one speck of land, then swam around and found nothing else to reach. They returned to land and left the Lake of Rage, instead going to Route 43 to train.

They found a fisherman they hadn't fought before, who had two Magikarp and a Gyarados. Dingbat easily took care of the two Magikarp, and the Gyarados wasn't too strong either, so they all went down by Pluck without a problem.

With the fisherman beaten, Zora and Dingbat moved on and found a secret path to another part of the Lake of Rage, where they found a Full Restore on the ground. They found another Ace Trainer who had an Ivysaur, Charmeleon and Wartortle. Ivysaur was easily taken care of with Pluck. Charmeleon landed a Smokescreen, but was otherwise taken out by two Plucks. Dingbat wanted to learn Mean Look, but Zora refused.

Dingbat missed his first Pluck against Wartortle, but its Water Gun barely did anything. The next Pluck hit and got it below half health, and again Water Gun did almost nothing. One more Pluck took out the Wartortle, and the Trainer was beaten.

Zora healed up Dingbat with a Sitrus Berry before moving on. They Cut down a few trees to pass through, and they found another Full Restore and a Max Revive in the grass. They ran through the trees and arrived at the foot of a hill with a house on top. At the foot of the hill, a man stood, and they got a Black Belt from him. Finding nothing else of interest which was accessible at the moment, Zora got Fly Boy to fly them back to Mahogany Town.

Once back at the Pokémon Center, Zora swapped Fly Boy for Tails, went over the strategy with the team again, and returned to the Gym. While Dingbat was still only level thirty-three, Zora deemed him high level enough to be on par with the rest of the team for now. It was time to challenge Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town's Ice Gym.

Zora put Bambi in the front as she knew Pryce would lead with the Seel he had on his team. She had been worried about the Piloswine before fighting the Gym Trainers, but having a feel of the Swinub, Seel and Dewgong of the Trainers, she was less worried about losing to Pryce now. She was confident they would win.

Zora walked up to Pryce without hesitation. Pryce hummed at her arrival.

"Pokémon have many experiences in their lives, just like we do," Pryce said. "I, too, have seen and suffered much in my life. Since I am your elder, let me show you what I mean. I have been training Pokémon since before you were born. I do not lose easily. I, Pryce – the Winter Trainer – shall demonstrate my power!"

Pryce drew a Poké Ball and sent out his Seel. Zora nodded at Bambi, and he stepped forward.

"Bambi, use Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.

Bambi let loose a Thunderbolt and took down the Seel in one hit. Pryce immediately sent out his Piloswine, so Zora switched out with Tails.

"This is it, Tails," Zora said with a pounding heart. "This is what we've been training for. Take it out in one hit with Flamethrower!"

Tails blew a roaring Flamethrower at the Piloswine, engulfing it in fire. The Piloswine seemed to get overheated and fell to the floor, unconscious. Pryce returned it to its Poké Ball.

"Yes!" Zora exclaimed. "Great job, Tails! Now get back and let Bambi take care of the rest."

Tails returned to his Poké Ball, and Bambi stepped forward again.

"Humph… You are quite the Trainer," Pryce remarked and sent out his Dewgong.

"Finish this with Thunderbolt again, Bambi!" Zora exclaimed.

"Use Aurora Beam, Dewgong!" Pryce ordered.

The Dewgong landed its Aurora Beam first, but it barely did anything to Bambi. Bambi fired off a strong Thunderbolt and took out the Dewgong in a single hit.

"Hmm," Pryce hummed and returned his Dewgong to its Poké Ball. "Seems as if my luck has run out."

Zora threw her arms in the air and cheered with Bambi. They had defeated the Ice Gym, barely without a scratch. Pryce cracked a small smile on his old face.

"I am impressed by your prowess," Pryce said. "With your strong will, I know you will overcome all life's obstacles. You are worthy of this Badge!"

Pryce handed over the Glacier Badge to Zora, who accepted it and put it with the others.

"That Badge will raise the Special stats of Pokémon," Pryce explained. "It also lets your Pokémon use Whirlpool to get across real whirlpools. And this… This is a gift from me!"

Pryce handed over a disc labeled TM07 to Zora, who put it with the other TMs and HMs, like always.

"That TM contains Hail," Pryce explained. "It summons a hailstorm that lasts for five turns. The hailstorm damages all types except Ice. When the ice and snow melt, spring arrives. You and your Pokémon will be together for many years to come. Cherish your time together!"

Zora looked down at Bambi and smiled. "If only he knew," she said quietly and looked back at Pryce. "But yes, I will make sure to cherish our time together. Thank you, Pryce. Goodbye."

* * *

As soon as they stepped outside the Gym, Zora's Pokégear started ringing. It was Professor Elm, so Zora took it.

"Hello?" Zora greeted on the phone. "Professor Elm?"

" _Zora, how are things going?_ " Elm greeted on the phone.

"Things are going well," Zora said. "Why do you ask?"

" _I called because something weird is happening with the radio broadcasts. They were talking about Team Rocket. Zora, do you know anything about it?_ "

"Well, there has been a strange radio signal here in Mahogany Town and the Lake of Rage," Zora replied. "That was Team Rocket too. But I took care of them."

" _Maybe Team Rocket has returned,_ " Elm speculated." _No, that just can't be true. Sorry to bug you. Take care!_ "

With that, Professor Elm hung up. Zora hummed. She decided to turn on the radio to check things out. A strange yet familiar voice sounded on the channel.

" _Uh… um… Testing! Testing… 1, 2, 3… We're the amazing Team Rocket! It's been three years, but we've rebuilt the team and restructured. We're proud to announce that we're back! Giovanni! Can you hear this?! …We finally did it! Where could the boss be, I wonder? I wonder if he heard this announcement…_ "

Zora hummed and tried switching to a different channel, but the message repeated on each of the four channels on the radio. The message looped, playing over and over again. Zora sighed and turned off the radio.

"Sounds like Team Rocket needs to be taught another lesson," Zora said. "Looks like it's time we start training up Goofy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Badge left... and still no deaths... :3
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 7  
> Live Pokémon: 42  
> Death counter: 0


	26. Trouble with Team Rocket

Before they could start Goofy's training, Zora had the brilliant idea to buy ten HP Ups and ten Zincs to raise Goofy's special defense and HP to decrease the amount of Pokémon they needed to train against. For that though, they needed 196,000 Pokédollars, and they currently only had a little over 34,000 Pokédollars.

Luckily, Zora remembered she had caught a Meowth in Route 39 and named him Cash, exactly for this very purpose. Before she could begin Goofy's training, she would have to train up the level sixteen Meowth to level thirty before he would learn Pay Day and thus earn them money from every battle won when using the move. She would have liked to have an Amulet Coin to double the prize money earned, but that particular item was not available to her yet, so she would have to do without it.

Zora flew to Azalea Town, put Cash in Tails' spot, sold some things at the Poké Mart and went to Route 34 to train Cash against wild Drowzee, as he knew Bite. First though they decided to fight a picnicker who had two Hoppip and a Bulbasaur, which Cash took care of with Headbutt, which was taught to him in Ilex Forest just before arriving in the route.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with the picnicker, Cash had to defeat a total of twenty-five Drowzee, seventeen Rattata, two Abra and four Ditto before he reached level twenty-two and learned Faint Attack, which Zora decided to replace Fury Swipes with. Cash also picked up a Hyper Potion, a Revive, a Super Potion, an Escape Rope and a Great Ball throughout this training.

Afterwards, Zora decided to fly to Cherrygrove City and make her way up to Mr. Pokémon's house, as she had something she was certain he would want.

"Hm?" Mr. Pokémon remarked. "That Red Scale! What's that? A Red Gyarados? That's rare! I… I want it… Zora, would you care to trade it? I can offer this Exp. Share I got from Professor Oak."

"Yes, you can have the scale for the Exp. Share," Zora said with a smile.

Zora handed over the Red Scale to Mr. Pokémon, and Mr. Pokémon handed over the Exp. Share to Zora. He looked very happy as she and Cash left the house. Zora flew back to Azalea Town, through Ilex Forest and returned to Route 34 to continue training.

This time though, Zora decided to Surf down a path that led to three Ace Trainers, who were sisters, all with Water-type Pokémon around or above the level of Cash. The first two Trainers fought them in a double battle, so Zora decided to put the Exp. Share on Cash, put him in the back of the team and let Kale and Bambi take care of the battle.

The two Trainers started by sending out a Staryu at level twenty-four and a Goldeen at level twenty-two. Kale used Magical Leaf on the Staryu, and Bambi used Thunderbolt on the Goldeen, taking the opponents out in one hit each. Next they sent out a Seaking and a Starmie. Kale took out the Seaking with Magical Leaf, and Bambi took out the Starmie with Thunderbolt after it launched a Swift.

Afterwards, Bambi took on the third sister by himself, taking out her Shellder with a single Thunderbolt. Her Cloyster used Protect at first, but on the second turn, Bambi's Quick Claw allowed him to move first and take the Cloyster out with a single Thunderbolt as well. After the battle, the Trainers gave Zora a Power Herb.

Zora then decided to take the team to Olivine City to train against Tentacool and Tentacruel at the beach, still with Cash holding the Exp. Share. Zora decided to have Dingbat out in the front, as he needed some training. Dingbat defeated fifteen Tentacool and two Tentacruel before Cash reached level twenty-five, at which point Zora decided to try to have him fight Tentacool on his own.

The first Tentacool Cash faced was level eighteen, so Zora supposed he would be okay. Cash used Fake Out to flinch the Tentacool, then took it out with Headbutt. He took out an additional thirty-nine Tentacool and one Tentacruel this way before reaching level thirty and learning Pay Day. Pay Day ended up replacing Headbutt, as that move had served its purpose. Right after, Zora finally allowed Cash to evolve into Persian.

Having the money-maker now, Zora got Fly Boy to fly them to Azalea Town so they could go test out Pay Day. They went into the tall grass and encountered a Hoppip, which would be their test subject. Cash took it out with a single Pay Day, and after the battle, Zora picked up 150 Pokédollars.

"So it seems one Pay Day gives me money five times your level," Zora concluded. "What happens if we use two Pay Day in the same battle, though?"

They went inside the Union Cave to look for a Geodude or Onix to test it on. They took out one Zubat and six Rattata with Pay Day until they ran into a Geodude. Unfortunately, Cash was too strong, so Pay Day took it out with one hit.

"Perhaps we should find some stronger opponents to test it out on," Zora suggested.

They left Union Cave and decided to just fly back to Olivine City and fight in Route 39. First though, they stopped by the Moomoo Farm and gave the sick Miltank four Oran Berries before it got back to complete health. One of the two girls tending to the Miltank gave Zora a Seal Case, and the other girl gave her Seals. Zora then went into the house and bought a dozen Moomoo Milk from the farmer. The wife gave Zora TM83 which was Natural Gift.

Afterwards, they ran through the grass outside and encountered a Raticate. Cash took it out with two Pay Day, and Zora picked up 300 Pokédollars afterwards.

"So it seems Pay Day can be used several times in a battle to increase the money earned afterwards," Zora concluded. "Very useful, though to maximize this, it seems we have to fight stronger Pokémon, which can deal more damage to you, Cash. We best be careful."

Zora gave Cash a Sitrus Berry to hold, just to be safe, but before running back into the tall grass, she paused and looked at her notes. She remembered the wild Shuckle in the rocks on the beach of Cianwood City and decided they would be a good candidate for money-making.

Fly Boy took the team to Cianwood City, and Zora replaced him with Crisper, so they could use Rock Smash. This way, they could earn money by using Pay Day to take out Krabby and Shuckle hiding in the rocks, and they would occasionally find items they could sell for a lot, too.

Before starting with the rocks, Zora decided to teach Cash the move Flash, so they could avoid taking too much damage from Bide whenever a Shuckle would use that. She replaced Bite with Flash.

They went to the beach and started smashing rocks. They smashed thirty-two rocks, beating eight Krabby and finding three Heart Scales before encountering a Shuckle. Zora started by healing up Cash with a Sitrus Berry, but the Shuckle just wrapped him up. Cash used Pay Day which did almost nothing, which was what Zora wanted. Furthermore, the Shuckle used Encore, forcing Cash to continue using Pay Day. The Shuckle started biding, so Zora decided to heal him up again with a berry to take the hit. The Bide itself did almost nothing, thankfully.

Cash used a lot of Pay Day, the Shuckle having the highest defense and special defense of all Pokémon in existence, backed up by a Berry Juice it was holding, healing itself when it got to low health. Furthermore, Zora had lots of Leppa Berries in her bag, so she wouldn't run out of power points for Pay Day anytime soon. By the time the Shuckle was defeated, Zora had earned 3100 Pokédollars, Cash having leveled up from the several Krabby earlier.

They smashed an additional one hundred and eighty-two rocks, finding two Heart Scales, three Revives, four Max Ethers, two Red Shards, one Blue Shard, five Yellow Shards and three Green Shards, as well as beating an additional forty-five Krabby and fifteen Shuckle with Pay Day before Zora finally had enough money to buy ten HP Ups and ten Zincs at the Safari Zone Gate. She immediately gave all twenty vitamins to Goofy and put the level thirty-six Cash back in the box, having served his purpose for now.

Before leaving, however, Zora decided to go to the Cliff Cave and finally get an encounter there, as evening had fallen and Misdreavous were likely to roam the cave now. They ran from other wild Pokémon until they encountered one. Zora tried a Quick Ball, but it broke out after two shakes. After a Thunder Wave and an Ultra Ball, however, it was caught. Zora named the male Misdreavous Tantrum before the ball materialized away to the PC.

The next morning, Zora got Fly Boy out and had him fly them to Azalea Town to finally begin Goofy's training. Zora wanted to increase his special defense and health, as a Slowbro would naturally already have great special attack and physical defense. There was no reason to focus on speed as Slowpoke and Slowbro were… slow. Furthermore, his physical attack was good enough, and Zen Headbutt would be great on him. Zora wanted a tank that could hit hard. She gave Goofy the Shell Bell to hold around his neck, as she had given Crisper the Wide Lens she bought at the Game Corner.

Zora walked with Goofy to the grass at Route 33 and fought Hoppip to increase his special defense, having taught him Ice Beam. Whenever they ran into a Pokémon that wasn't Hoppip, Zora switched one of the others in, so they could run away. Ekans were especially annoying when they used Wrap to trap them, and Zora wouldn't take out these low level Pokémon, as their stats weren't needed.

They took out twenty-four Hoppip before Zora got tired of running into other Pokémon and being slowed down. Instead, she decided to train up Goofy and the rest of the team against Tentacool and Tentacruel at the beach in Route 40. Goofy was given the Exp. Share to hold while the others trained up.

Bambi was up first, taking out twenty Tentacool and one Tentacruel before he reached level thirty-six, which Zora deemed as a good level to stop by. Next was Kale, who beat thirty-five Tentacool and five Tentacruel before reaching level thirty-six. Afterwards was Dingbat, who defeated thirty-nine Tentacool and six Tentacruel before also reaching level thirty-six.

Before the last Tentacruel, however, they encountered a _Shiny_ Tentacool. Zora gasped in shock.

"A SHINY TENTACOOL!" she exclaimed. "An actual Shiny Pokémon! Oh my gosh, I am _catching_ this! QUICK BALL!"

Zora immediately chucked a Quick Ball at the Shiny Tentacool. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora shook all over her body. Goofy picked up the Quick Ball with his mouth, and Zora accepted it with shaking hands.

"I… I'll name you… Grid," Zora decided. The ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center. She gazed at Dingbat with a big smile. "Let's finish your training with one last encounter."

* * *

After finishing Dingbat's training, Zora immediately ran back to the Pokémon Center to check out her new Shiny Pokémon, her very first Shiny in Johto. Grid was a beautiful silver-lavender color with emerald green organs that on normal blue Tentacool were red.

When it came down to Crisper and Tails, Zora decided to only pit them against Tentacool and low level Tentacruel, the latter being no higher than level twenty-three, the same as Cruella, Zora's own Tentacruel, who was sitting in the box with the others.

Crisper took out eight Tentacool and one Tentacruel before Goofy's special defense had been maxed out, at which point Zora decided to take the Exp. Share off him so he wouldn't receive any further pointless points. Crisper took out another nine Tentacool and three Tentacruel before reaching level thirty-six as well. Zora decided to have Tails train in the grass in Route 39 instead, where he defeated eleven Raticate, six Meowth, one Tauros, one Miltank and six Magnemite before he reached level thirty-six too.

By then it had gotten dark, and Zora decided to train Goofy against Hoothoot in the National Park for stamina training. They flew to Ecruteak City and traveled down to the National Park, where they trained against Hoothoot. Goofy defeated a total of one hundred and fifty-two Hoothoot before having his HP maxed out. He also defeated six Oddish to increase his special attack just slightly.

Afterwards, they trained Goofy against Tentacool and Tentacruel to get him on par with the rest of the team. After defeating thirty-five Tentacool and six Tentacruel, Goofy reached level thirty-six, just like the others. He learned Zen Headbutt, which Zora replaced Headbutt with.

With Goofy's training finally finished, they flew to Goldenrod City to take care of Team Rocket.

After putting Fly Boy back in the box and having the team consist of Kale the Meganium, Dingbat the Crobat, Bambi the Ampharos, Crisper the Golem, Tails the Ninetales and Goofy the Slowpoke, Zora wandered through the city with Goofy crawling after her.

"Looks like there's a lot of Team Rocket grunts present," Zora said. "And judging by the radio message, they might have taken over the Radio Tower. We should go and check it out."

Goofy hummed in reply.

Zora gazed down at the Slowpoke. "Do you speak at all, Goofy?" Zora asked.

Goofy gazed silently up at Zora and yawned.

Zora sighed. "Well, let's just go," she said.

They went to the Radio Tower and walked in. Only, a Team Rocket Grunt was blocking the staircase. Zora and Goofy wandered over to him.

"Who are you?" the grunt asked. "We have some business going on. I was told not to let anyone pass but Team Rocket! Do you understand? You are only allowed to come through when you are wearing the cool black uniform for Team Rocket!"

Zora hummed. "Fine," she said and turned away. They left the Radio Tower and wandered further along the street. "Seems if we are to get into the tower and stop Team Rocket, we'll have to look like one of them."

They wandered over to the place where the Gym and Flower Shop was. A woman stood by the Gym door to prevent a grunt from entering. Another grunt was blocking the way to the Flower Shop. Zora walked over to him.

"Who are you?" the grunt asked. "A newcomer? We've run out of Team Rocket uniforms. One of my guys is going to get more… What's taking him so long? The studio in the tunnel is just around the corner."

"I see," Zora said. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

Zora and Goofy left the grunts and went to the entrance to the Goldenrod Underground. They found the studio just around the corner as they entered. Another Team Rocket grunt stood waiting when he spotted Zora.

"Huh? Are you a newcomer, too?" the grunt asked.

"Yes," Zora replied.

The grunt smiled at her reply. "We had to recruit new members for the Radio Tower mission. Then we ran out of uniforms. I heard this studio has some, so I decided to 'borrow' one. Since you are here, why don't you change as well?"

"Sure thing," Zora replied.

The grunt went and got another uniform and handed it over to Zora. Zora put the uniform on, with her regular clothes on the inside. It was a bit warm because of the several layers of clothing, but otherwise it was pretty comfortable. Zora looked down at herself and smiled. The grunt smiled as well.

"Look at you!" the grunt remarked. "Pretty good! Oh, but you shouldn't try to scare people walking around looking like that, okay?"

"Okay, I won't," Zora said. "Thanks for the help!"

Zora and the grunt smiled and waved at each other as she left with Goofy crawling behind her. They passed by a young man who looked shocked at Zora's new outfit.

"You look like an earnest youth," the man remarked. "How come you ended up in Team Rocket…?"

Zora didn't reply. _I go around, beat up other people's Pokémon, take their money, leave them in the middle of the woods or caves, surrounded by wild Pokémon without any protection, and I enslave wild Pokémon to battle to the death for my own gain,_ she thought in silence. _As does every other Trainer in the world. What exactly is Team Rocket doing to be so evil? Taking over a Radio Tower? Stealing people's Pokémon? People, who, like me, make them fight to the death or to unconsciousness?_

Zora kept her thoughts to herself and just left the tunnel, returning to the streets. Zora looked down at herself and smiled.

"I do look pretty good in this," she said. "I wonder if I can keep it?"

They returned to the Radio Tower to meet up with the grunt blocking the staircase, so they could enter. The grunt smiled at the sight of Zora in her uniform.

"Hah! You must be new!" the grunt remarked. "You look pretty good in the Team Rocket Uniform! Go on ahead!"

The Rocket grunt stepped aside to allow Zora passage. Zora smiled and stepped forward. _Perfect,_ she thought. _I'll infiltrate their ranks, go see what's up and stop them without their knowledge. This will be eas-_

" _Hey, Team Rocket!_ " someone yelled.

Zora stiffened and turned. Silver had just arrived and faced the other Team Rocket grunt, who looked stumped at the red-haired boy.

"Stop going around in groups and troubling people," Silver snarled. "You cowards!"

Zora looked the other way and tried to sneak up the stairs, but Silver caught wind of it and grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. He looked shocked as he recognized Zora's face.

"…Huh?" Silver said. "Are you Zora? What are you doing here?"

Zora clenched her teeth and looked frantically between Silver and the grunt, who looked skeptically at the two kids. _Go away, Silver,_ Zora thought annoyed. _Scram, you're blowing my cover!_

"No way…" Silver continued with a frown. "You think you're strong now that you look like them? That's foolish! You shouldn't wear those things!"

Silver grabbed Zora's sleeve. Zora cringed. "No, don't!" she exclaimed.

Silver ripped the Team Rocket uniform off Zora, including the black hat she had put over her white one. Zora shrieked at the destruction of her uniform. The grunt gasped in shock.

"What? You!" the grunt exclaimed. "You're not a newcomer?"

"No, I am!" Zora protested weakly. "This little piece of s-"

"Then battle with me!" the grunt exclaimed and sent out a Raticate to battle.

Zora sighed in exasperation and gestured Goofy forward. The Slowpoke crawled forward, and the humans stepped back to give the Pokémon some space to fight. Goofy looked up at Zora for instructions.

"Goofy, use Zen Headbutt," Zora ordered.

Goofy hummed and looked forward at the Raticate.

"Use Crunch!" the grunt ordered.

Zora cringed a bit as the Raticate bit down hard on her Slowpoke. Crunch would be super-effective on this Psychic-type Pokémon…

Goofy looked up and yawned, barely noticing the attack. He focused his mind, and a light glowed on his forehead. All of a sudden, the Slowpoke leapt forward and slammed his head into the Raticate's side. The Raticate fainted immediately. The grunt withdrew the Raticate and sent out another.

"You can handle this one too," Zora said with confidence, knowing just how tanky her Slowpoke was. "Use another Zen Headbutt!"

The Raticate used Scary Face, which was completely useless on the already slow Goofy. Goofy launched another Zen Headbutt and knocked out the Raticate in a single hit as well. The grunt withdrew his Raticate and admitted defeat.

"You are too powerful," the grunt remarked, sweating with nervousness. "You could spoil our plan. I have to inform the others…"

The grunt ran up the stairs to sound the alarm. Silver hummed.

"I see," Silver said in realization. "You were trying to be sneaky… Huh! A typical idea of the meek!"

Zora shuddered and slowly turned her head to glare at Silver. In the next second, she slapped him hard across the face, which took him by surprise.

"You little pest!" Zora shrieked. "How dare you ruin my Team Rocket uniform like that! I looked _good_ in that thing, I was going to _keep it_ after I had taken out Team Rocket! And how DARE you blow my cover?! Just try doing that again, I dare you, you little punk! I'll beat you into pulp! And I'll take your money too! And I'll cut off that stupid hair of yours! We don't even need Pokémon here, I'll take you down, HUMAN TO HUMAN!"

Silver stared dumbfounded at Zora as she ranted. "No matter," he said and nudged his cheek. "I'll let you handle this. I have to defeat the Dragon Tamer… What's his name…? Lance! After that… it will be your turn. Be ready for it!"

Silver walked off. "DON'T YOU FRICKING DARE TURN YOUR BACK TO ME NOW, SILVER!" Zora shouted. "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET! COME BACK HERE!"

But Silver had already left the building. Zora snorted and fumed in quick breaths. Goofy nudged her on the leg to get her attention. She gazed down at the Slowpoke, still frowning. Goofy cocked his head in a questionable manner. It looked kind of… cute.

Zora took deep breaths and exhaled, and after a few moments, she had calmed down.

"You're right, Goofy," Zora said. "We don't have time for stupid boys like Silver. We have Team Rocket to take down. And you'll soon evolve into Slowbro. I can't wait for that."

Goofy seemed to bounce a bit in his place, seemingly eager for more fighting. Zora smiled at the sight.

"Let's go get you evolved! And stop Team Rocket in the process!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD!!!  
> That Silver boy is so FRUSTRATING!  
> Also... OH MY GOD!!!  
> I CAUGHT A SHINY TENTACOOL!!!  
> IN A NUZLOCKE!!!  
> IN A GEN 4 GAME!!!  
> This is the third legitimate Shiny Pokémon I have ever caught/found in the games, the first being a Shiny Riolu in Y, the second being a Shiny Beldum in Sun, both taking place after I became Champion.  
> In Gen 4, it's still a 1 in 8000-something chance to encounter one! DAMN!!!  
> Here's a picture of my new boi Grid: https://www.deviantart.com/zorathetwilightdrake/art/So-I-found-a-Shiny-during-my-Nuzlocke-864456088
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 7  
> Live Pokémon: 44  
> Death counter: 0


	27. Goldenrod Radio Tower Take-Over

Before they went up the stairs, Zora decided to switch Goofy out with Kale, since there would be plenty of battles here that Goofy could take care of, and she didn't want her team to get over-leveled for the next Gym. They then went up the stairs and saw a bunch of Team Rocket grunts standing around.

Zora faced the first Team Rocket grunt, who had five Rattata. Kale took all of them out with one Magical Leaf each, only getting Sucker Punched once.

Zora switched Kale out with Crisper to take care of the next grunt, who had one Arbok. Crisper took it out with a single Earthquake.

Zora was unsure which of the two last grunts on the floor had what, but she decided to have Bambi in the front and faced a grunt that kept looking from side to side. She had chosen right, for this grunt had two Zubat, which Bambi took out with one Thunderbolt each.

Zora switched back to Crisper to face the last grunt on the floor, who had two Grimer and a Muk. Crisper took them all out with one Earthquake each.

Zora went up to the next floor and put Goofy in the front again to take on the first grunt on this floor. He had a Koffing, a Grimer, a Zubat and a Rattata. Before Goofy could attack the Koffing, it used Selfdestruct, but with all the training in health, Goofy didn't even lose half his maximum health. Bambi took out the Zubat with Thunderbolt, Crisper took out the Grimer with Earthquake, and Kale took care of the Rattata with Magical Leaf.

Zora put Tails in the front, as the next foe they encountered was a scientist with three Magnemite. Tails took care of them all with one Flamethrower each.

Zora put Crisper back in the front to take on the next grunt, who had a Weezing which also had Selfdestruct, and Crisper had better defense than Goofy, whose defense would first be great when he evolved into Slowbro. Crisper threw a rock at the Weezing, and it used Assurance. Crisper used another Rock Throw, and the Weezing used Sludge and poisoned Crisper. It was taken out by the next Rock Throw though.

Zora ran back to the Pokémon Center to heal up the team before moving on. When they returned to the Radio Tower, they spoke with a woman by a locked door on the third floor.

"The Team Rocket boss has locked himself in," the woman informed. "But the Director can open it. He's up on the fifth floor. Please save him!"

Zora nodded and put Kale in the front to face the first Team Rocket grunt on the fourth floor. However, this guy had a Zubat, Golbat and Grimer, perplexing Zora.

"My notes are all messed up again," Zora sighed. "He was supposed to have a Raticate and a Koffing. Kale, get back! Bambi, get out here!"

Kale stepped back, and Bambi was sent out to take the Zubat's Wing Attack, which basically did nothing. Bambi took out the Zubat with a single Thunderbolt, as did he with the Golbat. Crisper took care of the Grimer with Earthquake.

Zora put Crisper in the front as they faced against another scientist, this one having a Porygon. Its only attacking move was Charge Beam, which Crisper was immune to. The Porygon was taken out by a single Earthquake.

Zora kept Crisper in the front as they faced the last grunt on the fourth floor, who had two Ekans, an Oddish and a Gloom. This time Zora let Tails take care of the Oddish and Gloom, not wanting to risk Crisper's life again like last time. Tails took them both out with one Flamethrower each. Crisper took care of the other Ekans with another Earthquake.

Zora put Goofy back in the front before entering the fifth floor, where the Director was supposed to be. She went to the desk to face the man in a brown suit. He was speaking through a radio system.

"Ahem, do you hear me?" the man said. "…I am the Director. We have decided to broadcast wonderful shows to praise Team Rocket! Everyone, I don't want to hear you complain. Just do a good job to…"

"Um…" Zora uttered.

The man only realized now that Zora was standing beside him. He leapt out of his seat in surprise.

"Yikes! I am busy impersonating the… Who are you?" he said.

Zora placed her hands on her hips, knowing who this was. She gave him time to realize who she was. He stepped forward and looked closer and flinched in shock.

"…Oh no, it's you again, Zora?" Petrel said and dropped his disguise. "No, no, no! I was pretending to be the Director to influence the entire region to support Team Rocket!"

"And look how well _that_ turned out," Zora commented.

"This time I won't hold back!" Petrel said and drew a Poké Ball. "Give me all you've got!"

Petrel sent out a Koffing. Zora sent forth Goofy. She knew he had five Koffing, four of them knowing Selfdestruct, and a single Weezing with Explosion. She would let Goofy try his best in battle, but if he got injured by just one Selfdestruct, she would switch in with Crisper.

"Use Zen Headbutt, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

The Koffing started with Sludge, allowing Goofy to hit it with Zen Headbutt, but it wasn't taken out completely. Goofy hadn't taken too much damage from Sludge, so Zora decided to let him use Confusion.

The Koffing used Smokescreen, and Goofy managed to land his Confusion on it and take it out.

"You haven't seen all, kid," Petrel said. "Go, Weezing!"

Zora did not dare test if Goofy could take an Explosion, so she decided to send in Crisper to take a possible hit instead. The Weezing came out, and Crisper glared at it.

"Use Rock Throw, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

The Weezing took a bit of damage and used Smokescreen. Another Rock Throw, and it was taken to half health. It used Sludge, but this time Crisper didn't get poisoned. Another Rock Throw, and it was almost out. It used Sludge, and Crisper had barely taken any damage.

"Finish it with another Rock Throw!" Zora ordered.

Crisper threw a rock… and missed. Zora cringed.

"Use Explosion!" Petrel ordered.

Zora hid behind Crisper as the Weezing exploded, feeling Crisper taking a lot of damage. However, Crisper still had half her health left when the Weezing fell unconscious to the floor.

"Good job, Crisper," Zora praised. "I'll let Goofy take care of the next one."

Crisper was returned to her Poké Ball while Goofy was sent out to fight the next Koffing.

"Use Confusion, Goofy!" Zora ordered, wanting to see if the weaker special move would do more than the stronger physical Zen Headbutt against this Koffing, which had more physical defense than special defense.

Koffing used Sludge and didn't do much damage to Goofy. Goofy used Confusion, but it did about the same amount of damage as Zen Headbutt had. Zora sighed. He was a bit too low on health to handle another Selfdestruct. She decided to heal him up with a Super Potion just in case. The Koffing used Sludge, however, and managed to poison Goofy, taking him to about the same amount of health he had before getting healed. Zora sighed.

Zora decided to use one of her two Full Restores on him, because she didn't want to take the risk to switch in with Crisper.

"Use Selfdestruct!" Petrel ordered.

The Koffing exploded and took Goofy to below half his health, making Zora cringe. He definitely would not be able to take a critical hit from Selfdestruct from these Koffing.

"Goofy, get back," Zora said, and Goofy stepped back. "Go, Dingbat!"

Dingbat was sent out to take care of the next Koffing, as his defense was higher than Goofy's currently were, plus his attack was pretty high, and he was faster than the opponent. He also had a good amount of health, so he should hopefully be able to take a Selfdestruct from a Koffing.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat landed a Pluck and took the Koffing down to half health. It used Smokescreen, lowering Dingbat's accuracy. With another, critical hit Pluck, however, the Koffing was taken out. Zora decided to let Dingbat stay in for the second last Koffing. He used Pluck and took the Koffing to half health. The Koffing used Sludge, which didn't do much to Dingbat.

"Finish it off with another Pluck!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat used Pluck, but the Koffing wasn't completely taken out. However, it decided to use Sludge again instead, giving Dingbat an opportunity to strike again.

"Use U-Turn!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat went forth and struck the Koffing, then went back to Zora, who sent out Goofy in his place. The Koffing fainted, but only Dingbat got experience for it. Zora frowned. She had wanted Goofy to get experience from this one and hopefully evolve, but it seemed that didn't work. Goofy was still too low on health to take another potential Selfdestruct from the last Koffing, as Zora didn't know if this one had Selfdestruct or Smog.

Zora decided to keep Goofy in for the sake of the experience, however, and Petrel sent out his last Koffing.

"What?" Petrel remarked surprised. "Am I losing?"

"Goofy, get back," Zora said and withdrew her Slowpoke. "Go, Tails!"

Tails still had full health and could potentially take out this Koffing with one Flamethrower.

"Use Smokescreen!" Petrel ordered.

The Koffing blew smoke in Tails' face, lowering his accuracy. Zora was concerned, but Tails also had higher defense than Goofy had, so he should be able to take a Selfdestruct… however, he had much lower health than Goofy as well, so perhaps this was a mistake.

"Use Flamethrower!" Zora ordered. "And please don't miss!"

Tails blew a Flamethrower, but it did miss. Luckily, the Koffing decided to use Sludge instead.

"Try again!" Zora pleaded. "Don't miss this time, please! Don't die!"

Tails blew another Flamethrower, and this time he managed to hit the Koffing, taking it out in a single hit. Zora sighed of relief.

"Dang it," Petrel said and withdrew his fainted Pokémon. "Not again."

Zora turned to Tails and stroke him along his head hair. "Good job, Tails," she praised. "Now rest up."

Tails returned to his Poké Ball, and Zora and Goofy faced against Petrel again, who was now beaten.

"Listen carefully," Petrel said. "We stashed the real Director in the underground warehouse. It's at the far end of the Goldenrod Tunnel. I am a nice guy. I will give you the Basement Key to get to the underground warehouse. Take it with gratitude!"

Petrel handed over the Basement Key to Zora, who accepted it and put it in her Key Items pocket.

"Hahaha…" Petrel chuckled. "I doubt a child like you'll get that far."

"We'll see," Zora said.

* * *

Zora went to the Pokémon Center to heal up her team before going to the Goldenrod Underground. Zora decided to put Bambi in the front to get him more experience from the next battle. However, when they entered the far-end of the Goldenrod Tunnel, they met a Kimono Girl, who spotted them and approached.

"Team Rocket members in black suits have been running around…" she said. "I was wondering what was going on. So, you took on Team Rocket? You are impressive! You may be able to face the legendary Poké…" The Kimono Girl paused and chuckled. "Hahaha! Never mind. I must go now."

With that, the Kimono Girl left the tunnel. Zora and Bambi looked after her.

"She's just as pretty as that one in the woods," Bambi remarked.

Zora looked down at Bambi. "She's not the same one?" she asked.

"No, her face is totally different," Bambi said. "Come on, let's go save the Director!"

Zora smiled and nodded. They moved on to the locked door, and Zora inserted the Basement Key. The door opened, and they entered. They went down the stairs into a large floor. They walked across the floor and…

"Hold it!" a familiar voice sounded from behind.

Zora and Bambi turned and looked. It was Silver. As always.

"What do you want?" Zora asked with a frown.

"What I told you before was to deceive you," Silver said. "I thought it would let me tail you, and it would lead me to Lance."

Zora raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Zora said. "I haven't seen him today at all."

Silver frowned. "Well, he never showed up," he said. "…No matter. I was planning to beat you after Lance, but since you are here, I will repay my debts!"

Silver drew a Poké Ball and sent out his Golbat, having apparently evolved since last they met. Zora looked down at Bambi, and they nodded. Bambi stepped forward.

"Bambi, use Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.

Bambi went first thanks to his Quick Claw, and a single Thunderbolt took out Silver's Golbat. Silver withdrew the Golbat and sent out his Haunter, which had also evolved since last they fought.

"Bambi, get back," Zora said. "Go, Dingbat!"

Dingbat and Haunter glared at each other, waiting for instructions.

"Dingbat, use Bite!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat bit down on the Haunter, but didn't completely take it out. Silver grinned.

"Haunter, use Curse!" Silver ordered.

Haunter used its remaining health to put a Curse on Dingbat. Then the Haunter fainted and was withdrawn. Dingbat suffered some damage from the Curse.

"It's alright," Zora said. "You've done enough. Go, Tails!"

Tails was sent out as Silver sent out his Magnemite.

"Take it out with Flamethrower!" Zora ordered.

The Magnemite was engulfed in the flames and fainted immediately. Silver withdrew it and sent out his Quilava, still not having fully evolved yet. Zora smiled maliciously.

"Tails, get back," Zora said. "Go, Goofy!"

Goofy came out and stared at the Quilava with his goofy expression. He didn't look very threatening, but the Quilava probably knew he was bad news.

"Use Swift!" Silver ordered.

The Swift barely did anything to Goofy. Zora smiled.

"Use Surf!" she ordered.

Surf took most of the Quilava's health, but didn't knock it out completely. Zora knew she had won this fight though.

"Another Swift!" Silver ordered.

"Take it out with Surf," Zora said.

The next Swift barely did anything. Goofy's next Surf took out the Quilava. Goofy started glowing white, and in the next moment, he finally evolved into Slowbro. Zora smiled widely and laughed of joy. Silver frowned as he withdrew his fainted Quilava.

"Hey, hey!" Silver said and drew another Poké Ball. "Why so serious? Go, Sneasel!"

Zora returned Goofy to his Poké Ball and sent out Tails instead to meet Silver's Sneasel.

"You're finished," Zora said while grinning. "Tails, Flamethrower."

Before the Sneasel could do anything, Tails launched a Flamethrower in its face and took it down at once. Silver frowned deeper as he withdrew it, having lost yet another battle to Zora, still unable to defeat even one of her Pokémon.

"…Why?" he said. "Why do I lose? I've assembled the toughest Pokémon. I should have plenty of gas. So why did I lose?"

Zora pat her Ninetales on the head and returned him to his Poké Ball, now only Bambi being out.

"…I don't understand," Silver said. "Is what that Lance guy said true? That I don't treat Pokémon properly? Love… Trust… Are they really what I lack? Are they keeping me from winning? I… I just don't understand. But it's not going to end here. Not now. Not because of this. I won't give up my dream of becoming the world's best Pokémon Trainer!"

With that, Silver left the floor. Zora inspected Goofy's stats. He had much better defenses now, even if his special defense was a bit lower than his physical defense. He still had a ton of stamina as well, and his special attack was as high as his special defense, while his physical attack was a bit lower.

"You've become pretty strong, Goofy," Zora said and put the Poké Ball away and looked at Bambi. "Let's go back and heal up, then we'll go rescue the Director."

"Alright!" Bambi said.

* * *

After healing up and returning to the warehouse basement with various doors that were open or closed, Zora put Kale in the front to face the first grunt in the first room. He had a Rattata, which Kale took care of with a single Magical Leaf.

Zora put Dingbat in front to face the next grunt, who had a Muk, a Koffing and a Rattata. Dingbat took care of the Muk with a single, critical hit Pluck. Zora sent in Bambi to handle the Koffing with a single Thunderbolt. Kale took care of the Rattata with Magical Leaf.

Zora put Bambi in the front as they moved on. They picked up a Full Heal and a Smoke Ball on the floor. Then they ran into a burglar who had two Koffing and a Magmar. Bambi took care of the Koffing with one Thunderbolt each, and Dingbat was sent in to deal with the Magmar. A single Pluck took it out.

Zora put Dingbat back in the front as they faced another burglar. This one had a Growlithe and a Koffing. Dingbat took out the Growlithe with two Plucks, and Zora sent in Bambi to take out the Koffing with a single Thunderbolt.

Bambi was put in front again as they faced the next grunt in the basement. He had a Koffing and a Muk. Bambi took out the Koffing with Thunderbolt, and Dingbat took out the Muk with two Plucks.

Zora flipped the switches until the right doors were opened and she could pass through to reach the purple switch that opened the door to the stairs. Afterwards, she put Dingbat in front again before facing the last Team Rocket grunt in the room, who had two Gloom. Both were taken out with one Pluck each.

Zora put Kale in the front before they moved on through the door, leading to the second room in the basement. She picked up an Ultra Ball on the floor before facing the first grunt in the room. He had a Raticate and a Golbat. The Raticate used Sucker Punch, but it did practically nothing, and Kale took out the fat rat with a single Magical Leaf. Bambi was sent in and took out the Golbat with a single Thunderbolt.

Zora moved on and put Dingbat in the front again. Zora picked up a Max Ether from the floor and faced another grunt, who was patrolling among some large boxes. He had a Grimer and a Weezing that knew Selfdestruct. Dingbat took care of the Grimer with two Plucks, and Bambi was sent in to deal with the Weezing. Using the Quick Claw, Bambi went first and took out the Weezing in one hit with Thunderbolt.

Zora put Goofy in the front this time, to take care of the last grunt in the room of the warehouse basement. He had two Koffing, both knowing Selfdestruct, but now Goofy had higher defense thanks to his evolution. He also out-sped the Koffing and took both out with one Confusion each.

Having dealt with Team Rocket in the warehouse, Zora and Goofy moved on and found the TM for Sleep Talk… and the Director, of course.

"Hey there," Zora greeted. "I'm here to rescue you."

"Who? What?" the Director said confused. "You came to rescue me? Thank you! The Radio Tower! What's happening there?"

"It was kind of taken over by Team Rocket," Zora said.

"Taken over by Team Rocket? Here," the Director said and handed over a key card. "Take this Card Key. Use that to open the shutters on 3F. I'm begging you to help. There's no telling what they'll do if they control the transmitter. They may even be able to control Pokémon using a special signal! You're the only one I can call on. Please save the Radio Tower… and all the Pokémon nationwide!"

"Okay," Zora replied. "Let's go, Goofy."

They left the Director and moved up the stairs right around the corner, entering the warehouse of Goldenrod City Department Store. Zora gasped and picked up an Amulet Coin from the floor. She smiled widely.

" _Now_ we're going to be rich!" she said and gave the Amulet Coin to Dingbat, along with other items in the warehouse. "Let's go!"

* * *

After healing up at the Pokémon Center, Zora put Kale in the front again, and they returned to the Radio Tower. By this time, it was close to midnight, but they couldn't rest yet. They went up the tower to the third floor, where the locked door was. Zora inserted the Card Key into the key slot, and the door opened.

Zora and Kale went to the small room with stairs to the fourth floor. First though, they had to take care of a grunt standing guard, who had a Raticate and a Koffing. Kale took care of the Raticate with two Magical Leafs, and Goofy took care of the Koffing with Confusion.

Zora put Goofy in the front before they entered the fourth floor. Executive Proton stood guard by the stairs leading to the fifth floor… and an item. Zora went and faced Proton.

"Now, wait just one second!" Proton said. "Aren't you the one who got in our way at the Slowpoke Well?"

Zora gazed between Proton and Goofy, who seemed to throw a strange glare at Proton, but still with the goofy smile Slowpoke and Slowbro had. It seemed Goofy still remembered how Proton and his underlings had treated his brethren, cutting off their tails. Or perhaps he was just curious about Proton. Zora didn't know. He never spoke a word, after all.

"I see… You're doing all this because you want to make me angry," Proton remarked. "Be careful! But since you seem to wish it, I'll show you the full extent of a Team Rocket Executive's wrath!"

Proton sent out a Golbat, and Zora gestured for Goofy to step forward.

"Goofy, use Zen Headbutt!" Zora ordered.

"Use Confuse Ray!" Proton ordered.

Golbat fired a Confuse Ray at Goofy… but he was unaffected, thanks to his ability, Own Tempo. Zora grinned as the Slowbro launched a Zen Headbutt and took out the Golbat in one hit.

"Good job, Goofy," Zora praised. "Step back. Tails, come out!"

Tails was sent out as Proton sent out a Weezing.

"Seriously, you'd chase me this far?!" Proton said in disbelief.

"Use Flamethrower, Tails!" Zora ordered.

Tails launched a strong Flamethrower and took out the Weezing in a single hit. Proton sighed and withdrew his Pokémon.

"You may have won this time…" Proton said. "But all you did was make Team Rocket's wrath grow…"

"Sure," Zora said and stroke Tails on his head hair. "Good job, Tails. Rest up."

Tails returned to his Poké Ball, and Zora picked up an Ultra Ball on the floor before ascending to the fifth floor. She put Crisper in the front, as their next obstacle was Executive Ariana, guarding the elevator to the top.

"Hey, you…" Ariana said. "Remember me from the hideout in Mahogany Town?"

 _How can I not remember you?_ Zora thought. _You almost killed this Golem, and you look just like Silver. Are they related, perhaps?_

"This time…" Ariana continued. "Hee hee hee. This time… it looks like you're really all alone. All alone… So it should be quite easy. Bring it! Let's finish this!"

Ariana sent out an Arbok, and Zora sent Crisper forth.

"Use Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Use Glare!" Ariana ordered.

Arbok glared at Crisper, and she became paralyzed, unable to move. Zora sighed.

"Try again," Zora said. "You can do it! Earthquake!"

Arbok used Crunch but barely did anything. This time, Crisper landed an Earthquake and took out the Arbok in one hit, reaching level thirty-eight at the same time.

"Can I learn Explosion?" Crisper asked.

"NO!" Zora said.

"Didn't think so," Crisper replied.

Ariana sent in a Vileplume, so Zora switched in Dingbat to take care of it.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat's Pluck almost took out the Vileplume, but not entirely. It used Acid, which basically did nothing. With another Pluck, it went down.

"Great job, Dingbat," Zora praised as he also reached level thirty-eight. "Get back now. Bambi, you're up!"

Bambi came out as Ariana sent out her Murkrow, her last Pokémon.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Ariana exclaimed.

"Beating your Pokémon and taking your money," Zora replied. "Bambi, take it out with Thunderbolt."

Moving first with his Quick Claw, Bambi landed a Thunderbolt and took out the Murkrow in a single hit. He reached level thirty-eight as well, and Ariana had been beaten. Ariana stepped aside and allowed Zora to enter the elevator.

First, however, Zora returned to the Pokémon Center to heal up, then she returned to the Radio Tower, to the fifth floor, and entered the elevator, still with Crisper in the front. She had managed to keep her team below or at level thirty-eight, the same level as the last Executive's ace, a Houndoom. She had managed to keep her team from being over-leveled for this last fight against Team Rocket.

The elevator stopped, and Zora and Crisper stepped outside, entering the top room of the Radio Tower, the Observation Deck. At the end of the room, between two binoculars, stood a Team Rocket Executive in white like Ariana, probably the one serving as the substitute boss of Team Rocket with Giovanni missing. Zora took a deep breath and stepped forward, approaching him. His name tag read 'Archer'.

"Oh?" Archer said, turning as Zora approached him. "You managed to get this far…? You must be quite the Trainer. We intend to take over this Radio Tower and officially announce our comeback. That should bring our boss Giovanni back from his solitary training. We are going to regain our former glory… I will not allow you to interfere with our meticulous plans!"

Archer drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Houndour. Zora gestured for Crisper to step forward.

"Crisper, use Earthquake!" Zora ordered.

"Use Faint Attack, Houndour!" Archer ordered.

Houndour's Faint Attack practically did nothing, while Crisper's Earthquake took out the Houndour. Archer sent out a Koffing, and Zora called Crisper back, sending out Goofy instead.

"Use Confusion, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Sludge!" Archer ordered.

Koffing's Sludge did barely anything to Goofy, while Goofy's Confusion took out the level thirty-five Koffing in one hit. Afterwards, Goofy reached level thirty-eight, like the others.

Archer sent out his level thirty-eight Houndoom, and Zora withdrew Goofy, sending Crisper forth again.

"We can't have you getting in our way before news of our resurgence reaches Giovanni!" Archer said. "Houndoom, use Bite!"

"Crisper, use Earthquake!" Zora ordered.

Houndoom's Bite did some damage to Crisper, but Crisper's Earthquake took out the Houndoom in a single hit. Archer stood back and cringed as he withdrew his fainted Pokémon.

"Good job, Crisper," Zora praised.

"How could this be…?" Archer said in disbelief. "Our dreams have come to naught. I was not up to the task after all. Like Giovanni has done before me, I will disband Team Rocket here today. Farewell…"

Executive Archer left the Observation Deck without another word. Zora praised her team for a job well done. A minute later, the Director walked in and approached Zora and Crisper.

"Oh…!" the Director said. "You have already defeated them? Thank you! Your courageous actions have saved Pokémon nationwide. You are well worth this. Please take it!"

The Director drew forth a Silver Wing and handed it over to Zora. Zora and Crisper gazed in awe at the shiny silver feather that split in two at the end. She put it in her Key Items pocket.

"There used to be a tower right here," the Director explained. "When the tower was replaced with the Radio Tower, that Silver Wing was found at the top of the tower. I heard from a friend from Cianwood City that you can go down the cave at Whirl Islands when you have a Silver Wing. I have to get back to my office. See you!"

The Director turned to leave, but then he turned back again. "Oh, I almost forgot! According to my friend from Cianwood City, the legendary Pokémon will not appear if you just go down the cave at Whirl Islands with only that Silver Wing. Apparently there is something else you need… Or something like that. I wonder what it was… I can't remember."

The Director turned to leave again, but then stopped before rounding the corner. "Are you expecting something? This is what they call Fake Out. I really must go back to my office this time. See ya!"

Finally the Director left through the elevator, Zora could hear, and they were alone in the Observation Deck. Instead of returning to the Pokémon Center right away to rest up, Zora decided to bring out her whole team, so they could gaze out the huge windows at the Johto region at night, with the many lights, the twinkling stars and the moon in the sky.

"It's so pretty…" Bambi remarked. "I wonder if Amphy is up? He lights up the Lighthouse, after all."

"He's probably still awake," Zora said.

"The night sky looks so good," Dingbat remarked. "I really want to fly out."

Zora hummed. "You know what," she said. "Just for tonight, I'll let you fly around outside, once we get out of here again."

Dingbat looked astonished at Zora. "Really? I get to fly?" he asked.

"Yes," Zora replied with a smile. "You've done so well, and I haven't let you fly around since I caught you. You're strong, so I believe you can handle things out there on your own. Just be careful, alright?"

Dingbat made a loop in the air of joy. "I will!" Dingbat exclaimed. "Thank you, Zora!"

Kale and Tails both looked at the sky and the city with glittering eyes.

"It's good to be alive," Kale said. "We've made it this far, and no one has died yet. We're so strong. You're a good Trainer, Zora. I couldn't have wished for a better person to be by my side."

"You really are doing great," Tails remarked. "I thought you would screw up, like I have seen a few Nuzlocke Trainers screw up as they went through where I lived. But you're doing so well, I'm very impressed."

Zora smiled shyly. "I have to do my best to keep you guys alive," Zora replied. "I wonder how things went for Sid during his Nuzlocke journey? From the look on his face, it seemed as if he had lost someone…"

"Maybe you should ask him about it some time," Kale suggested. "Like, if we managed to beat the Pokémon League, we should go find Sid and ask him about it. Maybe he will tell us. And maybe we'll be able to do even better if we know the dangers of Sinnoh."

"Not that it would help much here in Johto," Zora said. "Or in Kanto, for that matter, if we ever go there. But I am interested in knowing how he fared. Alright, that's what we'll do. Once we beat the Pokémon League, we'll meet up with Sid, and he'll tell us about his time in Sinnoh. If anything, he can let out any bad feelings he has inside."

Goofy stared silently outside, still not uttering a single word. The only sound he made was a yawn, but he did that when he was awake as well as when he was sleepy. Zora looked at the Slowbro.

"Perhaps you're right, Goofy," Zora said with a smile and pat Goofy on the head. "It's past midnight now. We should go back to the Pokémon Center and rest up for the night. Tomorrow, we have new places to go, new Pokémon to catch, and one final Gym to beat. And then… it's on to the Pokémon League."

With one last look at the night sky, Zora put everyone back in their Poké Balls except for Kale, left the Radio Tower and returned to the Pokémon Center, settling into the lounge and waiting for the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess the hint in this chapter?
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 7  
> Live Pokémon: 44  
> Death counter: 0


	28. Ice Path

The next morning, Zora got Fly Boy out, and before returning to Mahogany Town, she flew to the Safari Zone Gate to buy more Quick Balls, as well as some Dusk Balls. She bought nine Quick Balls and ten Dusk Balls. She then went to Ecruteak City and bought two Ultra Balls, three Hyper Potions, two Antidotes, three Parlyz Heals, three Awakenings, two Burn Heals, three Ice Heals, three Full Heals and four Max Repels. Then she was broke.

Done shopping, Zora flew to Mahogany Town, deposited Fly Boy in exchange for Tails, and then they moved on, heading in the east direction, entering Route 44.

"Alright, we have a new encounter here," Zora informed as she brought Bambi out. "It's been a while since we last did this. Let's see… the only thing we can catch here is Tangela. Let's go find one."

"Alright," Bambi replied.

There was a bunch of Trainers around the route, however, so they would have to take care of those first. Zora snuck past a bunch before deciding to face one of them. She put Goofy in the front, because this was an Ace Trainer with a Charmeleon and a Magnemite. Goofy took out the Charmeleon with Surf, and Crisper took out the Magnemite with Earthquake.

Zora walked on and spotted another Ace Trainer, so she put Crisper in the front before facing her. This one had a Mareep and a Bellossom. Crisper took out the Mareep with Earthquake, and Tails took out the Bellossom with Flamethrower.

Zora put Bambi in the front before facing a fisherman that had two Remoraid. Bambi took both out with Thunderbolt.

Zora and Bambi walked on and picked up a Max Repel on the ground. Zora gazed at a person looking around for something. It looked like a psychic, but there was no Psychic in her notes for this route. There was supposed to be a hiker here somewhere, but she couldn't find him. She decided to save him for later.

Zora decided to face a Poké Maniac who had a Rhyhorn, so she switched to Kale before entering the battle. Kale took out the Rhyhorn with a single Magical Leaf.

Afterwards they took on another fisherman who had two Goldeen and a Seaking. Kale took them all out with one Magical Leaf each. She declined exchanging phone numbers with him.

Zora and Kale went up a hill leading to a cave, and a guy that looked like a bird keeper stood close by the cave. Zora decided to put Bambi in the front again and faced the Trainer. He had a Hoothoot and a Pidgeotto, both of which Bambi took out with one Thunderbolt each. Zora declined sharing phone numbers with him too.

"Perhaps we should see who this mystery Trainer near the entrance of this route is," Zora said. "And it doesn't look like there are any patches of tall grass here. If it is the hiker, and I highly doubt it is, then I guess we should let Kale out front now."

Bambi returned to his Poké Ball, and Kale came out to help Zora check out the mystery Trainer. It was indeed a psychic, and he sent out a Natu. Zora looked through her notes.

"What the heck?" she said. "He's not anywhere in my notes. Why are my notes all messed up? Is the information I found online not completely accurate?"

Zora sighed and put her notes away. "No matter. Kale, step back. Bambi, get out here!"

As soon as Bambi entered the field, the Natu used Confuse Ray on him. Zora sighed.

"Bambi, use Thunderbolt, and please don't hit yourself," Zora said.

Bambi managed to break through the confusion and took out the Natu in one hit. Next, Psychic Phil sent out a Kadabra, in which Zora decided to opt for Tails. Tails used Payback and took down the Kadabra in one hit. The psychic was beat, but Zora was not happy.

"That website I researched on did not have this guy in this route," Zora complained as they moved on to search for tall grass. "And it said there's a hiker here, but I don't see any. And where's the tall grass? Maybe there's something out in the water?"

Zora used a Max Repel and put Bambi in the front while sending out Goofy to Surf across the small lake in the route. Just a little ahead, there was a small area with tall grass, as well as a Max revive on the ground. There was no sign of a hiker though.

Zora and Bambi ran around the tall grass until the Max Repel's effect wore off, then they ran from wild Pokémon they had already caught until they found a Tangela.

"Alright, I'll try a Quick Ball to begin with," Zora said and threw one at the Tangela.

The ball shook once… twice… then the Tangela broke out and used Growth. Zora sighed.

"Well, worth a shot," Zora said. "Bambi, use Thunder Wave."

Bambi paralyzed the Tangela, and Tangela poisoned Bambi with PoisonPowder. Zora decided to send in Dingbat to spare Bambi the poison damage. Afterwards, Zora threw a Great Ball. It didn't even shake once before breaking free and using Bind on Dingbat. Zora threw an Ultra Ball. It shook once… twice… thrice… then broke free and used Vine Whip. Another Ultra Ball was thrown and broken out of.

"Okay, Dingbat, use Confuse Ray," Zora said. "Maybe it can do some damage to itself to help with the capture."

Dingbat confused the Tangela, and it hurt itself in confusion, though not by much. Zora decided to try with a regular Poké Ball. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora facepalmed but was nonetheless happy the capture was over with.

"A male," Zora remarked upon picking up the ball. "I will call you… Glenata."

The ball materialized away with Glenata to the Pokémon Center. Dingbat and Bambi looked puzzled at Zora.

"What's Glenata?" Dingbat asked.

"It's an anagram for Tangela," Zora said. "I couldn't come up with anything clever this time, and I don't really care either. Here, Bambi, take a Pecha Berry."

Bambi's poisoning was cured, Zora used her last Super Repel, they surfed across the lake back to the mainland and moved on. They healed up back at the Pokémon Center before going through Route 44 again and reaching the entrance to the Ice Path.

"We have another encounter here," Zora informed Bambi. "Let's see… No Trainers here, thankfully. As for wild Pokémon, we can get either a Swinub, a Delibird or a Jynx. I really hope we get a Swinub, that would be good. Also because Delibird is terrible, and I don't like Jynx. Too kissy."

"Well, let's hope we find a Swinub then," Bambi said. "Wait, Swinub is a Ground-type, right?"

"Yes," Zora said. "So if we find one, we'll switch to Kale and poison it. But if we encounter a Jynx, it may use Mean Look, so you have to stay in the front to paralyze it. We can handle this, just like we always handle encounters. No worries."

Bambi nodded nervously, and they stepped inside. The cave was very cold, with ice covering the walls and part of the floor. They walked around until they encountered… a Delibird.

"Oh no," Zora said exasperated. "The worst thing we could encounter in here. Oh well, we don't need a Swinub anyway. I'll try a Quick Ball."

The ball shook once… twice… thrice… then it broke free and damaged Bambi with Present. Zora sighed and tried a Dusk Ball, since they were in a cave. It broke free after a single shake. Zora tried another Dusk Ball. It broke out without shaking.

"Um, Zora?" Bambi said after another Present hurt him. "Shouldn't I paralyze it or something?"

Zora gazed dumbfounded at the jittery Delibird and facepalmed. "Of course," she said. "Go ahead and do that."

Bambi used Thunder Wave and paralyzed the Delibird. At that, the Delibird gave Bambi a Present that healed his damage.

"Wait, what?" Bambi said in confusion. "It healed me?"

"Yeah, that's why Delibird is a bad Pokémon," Zora said. "Present is the only move it knows, and it has a small chance to heal the opponent. Even Jynx would have been a better encounter than _this_."

Zora threw another Dusk Ball, but it still broke free after one shake. Another Dusk Ball was thrown, and the Delibird broke free without shaking.

"Maybe it's too bright in here with all the ice," Zora theorized. "I'll try an Ultra Ball instead."

The Ultra Ball shook once before it broke free. Another Ultra Ball was thrown, not shaking before breaking free. Zora tried another Ultra Ball. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

"Finally," Zora said in disappointment and picked up the ball. "A female. Your name is Dud."

Dud was materialized away to the Pokémon Center. Zora sighed in disappointment.

"Well, now that that's over with, let's get through here," Zora said. "Next stop, Blackthorn City."

* * *

Putting Tails in the front to deal with any Ice-types they ran into, though also using a Max Repel to prevent them from attacking, Zora wandered through the Ice Path to get to Blackthorn City. She went through a bunch of ice puzzles in the cave, one of which got her the HM for Waterfall, noted by a man she passed by.

"The item you picked up over there… it was an HM, wasn't it?" the man commented. "I am the one who dropped it… but I want you to keep it. You took the time to get it, right? It contains Waterfall. Have fun climbing waterfalls! Me? I still need a new pair of shoes before I can enjoy waterfalls."

With that in mind, Zora and Tails moved on through the cave, solving more ice puzzles to get more items, as well as just getting through the dungeon. In one part, there were several boulders that had to be pushed down some holes, which Bambi had to take care of, since he knew Strength. With a keen eye and careful coordination, Zora and Bambi managed to push all the boulders into one hole each.

They went down the ladder to the lower floor, where the boulders sat in certain positions to help with this new ice puzzle. Zora found several items down there, including a Carbos, a Max Potion and a Full Heal, as well as reaching the next ladder, leading down to another floor. An item lay behind a breakable rock, which Crisper smashed with Rock Smash. The item in question was a NeverMeltIce, which could be useful later.

Moving up the next ladder to the floor above them, they went through another ice puzzle to get the TM for Avalanche and going up another ladder to the next floor. There was another ice puzzle with a movable boulder, moved a bit by Strength, and allowing Zora to pick up an Iron and a Revive before moving on to the next floor above.

On the next floor they found a Protein as well as a Kimono Girl, seemingly stuck fast in the ice.

"Me oh my…" the Kimono Girl said as Zora made her way along the ice until she was behind the girl. "Is that you, Zora? Fancy meeting you here! To tell the truth… my sandals are frozen on the ice, and I am stuck here. In other words, my flip-flops are quick-frozen with the ground. Tee hee."

Zora rolled her eyes. It was probably some pun she didn't know about. "Why are you even here in that get-up?" Zora questioned.

"Well, it's no laughing matter," the Kimono Girl said. "Would you push my back?"

"Sure," Zora said and shoved the Kimono Girl across the ice until she landed on solid, non-slippery ground. The Kimono Girl turned and smiled gratefully at her.

"You really are kind," the Kimono Girl said. "Thank you so much!"

With that, the Kimono Girl left, and Zora got back to the ice puzzle to get one last item. It was a PP Up, and with that, Zora and Tails slid across the ice floor until they too reached solid ground. They got outside and finally reached Blackthorn City.

"Ahhh, fresh air," Zora said and stretched her arms. "Now to get to the Pokémon Center and plan our strategy for this Gym.

Before going to the Center, Zora went into a house and showed a lady Goofy, who gave him an Effort Ribbon for all the hard work he had done with his stats. Despite having beaten a lot of Pokémon with the others, apparently Goofy was the only one who had maxed out his effort values, despite having only just started and finished his training in a single day. Zora decided she would have to train up the rest of her team in specific stats before going against the Pokémon League, however little left they had.

Outside, Zora decided to have her picture taken with the team by Cameron the Photographer, not having taken a single one since she started. Perhaps it would have been nice to have done that from the beginning, to see their progress throughout the region.

Zora also decided to go check out the Move Tutor house, to see what her Pokémon could learn and remember. She considered teaching Dingbat Cross Poison, but since it was only good against Grass-type Pokémon, she was unsure. However, he was the go-to Pokémon for Grass-types, so it would be good.

Zora decided to wait with giving Dingbat Cross Poison until they had access to the Pokémon League, if it became necessary. For now, Bite did just fine, and Confuse Ray was pretty good.

Other than that, and the fact that Bambi could apparently learn Fire Punch, there wasn't anything else the team could learn that Zora didn't already know or was interested in. Bambi didn't learn Fire Punch though, since ThunderPunch did just fine and they had other things to counter things that were weak to Fire.

Having explored the city, Zora went to the Pokémon Center and healed up her team. Afterwards, they went to the lounge and started planning out their strategy for this Gym.

"Okay, so Clair is going to lead with Gyarados," Zora began. "Bambi is the best choice for this one. One Thunderbolt should take it out, as it's very strong, and Bambi has pretty high special attack. The Gyarados has more special defense than physical defense though, but it is four times weak to Electric, so it shouldn't be a problem. Even if Quick Claw doesn't let Bambi go first, he should still be able to take a Bite or Dragon Pulse, since his defenses are pretty good."

"Okay, I'll take care of the Gyarados then," Bambi said in acknowledgment.

"Next up, she's got two Dragonair," Zora continued. "They both have Thunder Wave, Slam and Dragon Pulse. One of them has Fire Blast, and the other has Aqua Tail. Goofy should be able to take them out without a problem, using Ice Beam. He won't hit first, but he has amazing defenses, so he can take a hit or two. He should have the NeverMeltIce to hold so his Ice Beam will be stronger. Here."

Zora took the Zoom Lens from Goofy and gave him the NeverMeltIce to hold instead. Goofy nodded and yawned, which was probably meant to be an acceptance of his role.

"Now, Clair's ace is a Kingdra," Zora continued. "It has no weaknesses other than Dragon, and since we don't have any dragons or Dragon-type moves on any of the Pokémon we have, there's not really much we can do with super-effective moves here. It's got Hydro Pump, Hyper Beam, Dragon Pulse and Smokescreen, and its defenses are the same, as are its offenses, so it doesn't matter whether we use a physical or special move against it."

"So what do we do against it?" Tails asked.

"Hmm…" Zora said in thought. "Since its attacks only do special damage, it might be a good idea to send someone out with good special defense. Kale has the highest special defense on the team, and he resists Water, so he might be a good choice. His speed is probably about the same as the Kingdra, maybe it's even a little higher because of all the training we've had against speedy Pokémon like Rattata and Pidgey. The problem is that Kale only has Magical Leaf, Headbutt and Cut, which aren't too strong."

"So what can I do?" Kale asked.

"Hmm… Okay, I think if you poison it with PoisonPowder and then just hit it with Magical Leaf, it should go down. You do have higher special attack than physical attack, and Magical Leaf gets more damage because of the typing. Clair does have one Full Restore though, so if the Kingdra doesn't go out with the first poisoning, we'll have to do it again."

"Okay," Kale said. "Do you think I can take a Hyper Beam though?"

"Certainly," Zora said. "It will have to rest the next turn, so we get a free turn to strike and then heal up before it strikes again. I think you can handle the Kingdra, Kale."

"Alright," Kale said. "So Bambi takes out the Gyarados, Goofy takes out the Dragonair, and I take out the Kingdra. Got it. I don't remember if I've ever fought against a Gym Leader before."

"I don't think you have," Zora said. "But now's the time. The last Gym Leader's ace will be your time to shine, Kale. Do your best."

Kale nodded. Dingbat took the word. "Okay, so now we know what to do with the Gym Leader," Dingbat said. "But what about the Gym Trainers? We have to take care of them first, after all."

"Right," Zora said. "They only have Dratini, Dragonair, Horsea and Seadra. None of them have anything dangerous against Goofy or Bambi, so they will have to take those out. Now, the level cap here is forty-one, as that's the level Clair's Kingdra is at. Once we have defeated the Gym Trainers, we'll go train up at Route 45, as well as get our encounter there, and then we'll go fight Clair and get the final Gym Badge of this region."

"And then it's on to the Pokémon League," Bambi concluded. "We're so close to getting the curse lifted…"

"We've come a long way," Dingbat said. "I can't wait for this to be over."

"I'm going to miss beating up others," Crisper said.

"Who knows, maybe there will be more adventures waiting for us in the future," Tails said.

Goofy yawned quietly and hummed. Kale looked at Zora and smiled.

"Let's not celebrate just yet, guys," Kale said. "We haven't won yet. Let's celebrate after we beat this Gym, _and_ the League."

Zora nodded. "Let's go take on the Gym Trainers, guys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 7  
> Live Pokémon: 46  
> Death counter: 0


	29. The Eighth Gym

They left the Pokémon Center with Goofy out in the front and went to the Gym, where a guy stood by the door.

"Clair, our Gym Leader, is waiting for you," he said. "However, it would be impossible for a run-of-the-mill Trainer to win."

"We'll see about that," Zora said. "Let's go, Goofy."

They entered the Gym, which was steaming hot, because the entire floor underneath the platforms they stood on was filled with molten lava. Before they entered one of the movable platforms, the Gym guard walked over to Zora.

"Yo! Champ in the making!" he greeted. "The Gym has unstable footing. Keep your Pokémon in their Poké Balls. Now, Clair uses the mythical and sacred Dragon-type Pokémon. You can't damage them very easily. But you know, they're supposed to be weak against Ice-type moves."

With that, the guard stepped back to his post, and Zora sighed and put Goofy back in his Poké Ball to spare him. However, the building was still steaming hot, and Zora was surprised this immense heat didn't kill her right away.

"Who built this crazy Gym?" she muttered as she went through the Gym's puzzle.

Zora soon faced the first Gym Trainer, who had two Dratini and a Seadra. Zora sent out Goofy against the first Dratini. It used Dragon Rush, which did almost nothing to Goofy. He used Ice Beam, and the Dratini went down in one hit. Zora thought the guy would send out his Seadra next, so she sent in Bambi to Thunderbolt it… but instead his second Dratini came out, and Bambi had already launched the Thunderbolt. It wasn't taken out, but did get paralyzed and used Agility. With a ThunderPunch, the Dratini went down. Zora kept Bambi in to take out the Seadra with Thunderbolt.

The next Gym Trainer had a Dratini and a Dragonair. Goofy was sent out, avoided a Dragon Rush and took out the Dratini with a single Ice Beam. The Dragonair used Dragon Rage, and Goofy took it out with also a single Ice Beam.

After healing up and moving through the Gym puzzle, they faced the next Gym Trainer, who had a Horsea and a Seadra. Zora had Bambi in the front to take care of both with Thunderbolt.

The next Gym Trainer had a single Seadra, which Bambi also took out with Thunderbolt, though he got a bit hurt by Bubblebeam beforehand.

The final Gym Trainer had a single Dragonair, which used Dragon Rage on Goofy and took him down some health. However, Goofy defeated the Dragonair with a single Ice Beam and was close to reaching level thirty-nine.

Having beaten all the Gym Trainers, Zora left the Gym to train up the team to level forty-one to be on pair with Clair's ace. First though, they had to get their encounter in Route 45.

"We can get either a Teddiursa or a Skarmory here," Zora said as they arrived at the tall grass, with Bambi outside to help with the capture. "Neither really matter. Let's see what we get."

They wandered in the tall grass and ran from Graveler and Geodude until they encountered a Skarmory.

"Aw man, it looks so awesome," Zora commented with a grin. "Okay, I'll try with a Quick Ball first."

Zora threw a Quick Ball. It didn't even shake once before breaking free. It used Fury Attack and barely did anything, only getting itself paralyzed by Bambi's Static.

"Okay, I'll try with an Ultra Ball," Zora said. "Skarmory has a low catch rate, but I'd rather not have it hurt, in case you guys accidentally knock it out."

Zora threw an Ultra Ball. It shook once before breaking free and failing to use Feint. Zora hummed.

"Skarmory has massive defense, and it resists Normal," Zora muttered. "Maybe it can take a hit from Strength? I didn't want to risk this, but Bambi, use Strength. Please hold back!"

Bambi gulped and used Strength on the Skarmory. It barely did anything to the Skarmory though, so Zora sighed of relief.

"Okay, it looks like it can take a few hits. Give it another two Strengths."

Bambi got the Skarmory into yellow. It could probably take a critical hit Strength, but Zora decided to throw another Ultra Ball just to check if this was okay. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora sighed of relief.

"That's, like, the first time since we caught Cruella that we've fought an encounter," Zora said and picked up the Ultra Ball. "But good job, Bambi. Let's see… It's a male. I know what I want to call this, but… Oh, whatever. I'll call you Starscream."

Starscream's Ultra ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora proceeded to face the various Trainers in the route. Zora put Dingbat in the front as they faced a hiker who had two Machop and a Graveler. Dingbat took out the two Machop with one Pluck each, and Kale took out the Graveler with Magical Leaf.

The second Trainer they faced was another hiker who had an Onix, so Kale went in front to take it out with a single Magical Leaf. Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with the hiker.

Afterwards they fought an Ace Trainer with a Marill and two Wartortle. Kale took care of them all with Magical Leaf, though the second Wartortle tried to protect itself with Protect at first.

Next was a black belt with a Machoke, so Zora let Dingbat take care of this one. It was taken out by a single Pluck, so Zora didn't have to worry about Revenge. She decided not to give the black belt her phone number.

Kale was put in the front again to take care of the last two Trainers on the route, both hikers, one with a Geodude, Graveler and Golem, and the other with a Diglett and Dugtrio. Kale took care of the Diglett and Dugtrio with one Magical Leaf each.

When looking for the other hiker, Zora ended up accidentally jumping over some ledges and being unable to get back to Blackthorn City the same way, so she went further south through Route 46 to try find a way back. Zora put Dingbat in the front as they faced a pair of Trainers, a camper and a picnicker, in a double battle. One had a Mankey, and the other had a Ponyta and an Oddish. However, they were severely under-leveled for Zora's team, and Goofy and Dingbat took them all out with ease. Goofy used Zen Headbutt on the Ponyta to avoid hurting Dingbat with Surf.

Zora denied her phone number to the picnicker, and they moved on with Kale in the front again. As they jumped over a ledge and ran through the tall grass, however, Entei leapt out at them.

"AH!" Zora shrieked in surprise. "Eh, I suppose I can try a Quick Ball?"

Zora threw a Quick Ball just to try. Entei broke out after one shake and ran away. Zora sighed of relief.

"Man, those legendary beasts are going to give me a heart attack one of these days…"

* * *

They ended up in Route 29 and arrived in Cherrygrove City to get Fly Boy, so they could return to Blackthorn City. Technically Zora _could_ teach Fly to Dingbat, but she didn't like that it was a two-turn move, so she didn't.

Zora kept Fly Boy on the team while she found the last hiker with the three rocks, so she could fly back to Blackthorn City afterwards right away. However, they found an Ace Trainer who sent out a Pidgeot, another Trainer who wasn't in Zora's notes from the website she checked. She switched Kale out with Bambi to take it out with Thunderbolt, and then Crisper was sent in when the Trainer sent out an Electabuzz. Crisper took it out with an Earthquake.

After beating the Ace Trainer, they found a Max Potion on the ground and ran through some tall grass past the black belt from before and finally found the other hiker. Kale took care of his Geodude, Graveler and Golem with one Magical Leaf each.

Having finally beaten all the Trainers of Route 45, Zora flew back to Blackthorn City and healed up before training her team against the wild Pokémon in the route. Kale took out eleven Geodude and eleven Graveler before reaching level forty-one. Since Clair's Dragonair and Gyarados were only level thirty-eight, however, and both Goofy and Bambi were level thirty-nine, Zora decided they were already strong enough to take them on. The others weren't trained up either, as they wouldn't be used in the Gym at all.

They returned to Blackthorn City Pokémon Center, healed up, and then they returned to the Gym. They went through the Gym puzzle until they stood before Clair, the final Gym Leader of Johto. Zora put Bambi in the front before stepping forward and facing Clair. She hummed at Zora's arrival.

"I am Clair," Clair introduced herself. "The world's best Dragon-type master. I can hold my own against even the Pokémon League's Elite Four. Do you still want to take me on?"

"Yeah," Zora said. "That's why I'm here. Bring it on."

Clair looked unimpressed at Zora's determination and smirked confidentally. "…Fine. Let's do this! As a Gym Leader, I will use my full power against any opponent!"

Clair drew a Poké Ball and sent out her Gyarados, as expected. Zora sent out Bambi.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.

"Use Dragon Rage!" Clair ordered.

Gyarados hit first, but Bambi had plenty of health. He landed a Thunderbolt and took out the Gyarados with a single hit, then reached level forty.

"Good job, Bambi," Zora praised. "Now, get back. Goofy, you're up!"

Zora withdrew Bambi and sent out Goofy instead, as Clair sent out one of her two Dragonair. It didn't matter which one it was, since neither Fire Blast nor Aqua Tail would be very effective against Goofy.

"Use Ice Beam, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Clair ordered.

The Dragonair launched a Dragon Pulse and landed a critical hit, taking Goofy to almost half his health, worrying Zora. Zora thought about her next move.

 _Let's see…_ Zora thought. _It did 66 damage, Goofy has 89 HP left, and it was a STAB crit… Goofy should be able to handle another critical hit Dragon Pulse. Aqua Tail won't do anything, I don't think Slam will either. What about Fire Blast though? It's not very effective, it's not STAB, it has a chance to miss. It's strong though, would he be able to live a crit? …Wait a second, she's going to heal up, I can use another Ice Beam and maybe crit! Or I can use the free turn to heal up myself…_

Zora decided to heal up Goofy instead, not wanting to risk Dragonair using a critical hit Fire Blast instead. Clair did heal up her Dragonair as well though.

"Use Ice Beam again, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Thunder Wave!" Clair ordered.

Dragonair paralyzed Goofy with Thunder Wave, but Goofy managed to pull through and landed a critical hit Ice Beam and took out the Dragonair from full health. Clair sent in her other Dragonair, and Zora decided to remove the paralysis, just to see what this Dragonair had.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Clair ordered.

The Dragon Pulse didn't crit, so Zora decided to go with another Ice Beam. Dragonair landed another Dragon Pulse, also not a crit, but Goofy did land another critical hit Ice Beam and took out the Dragonair in one hit.

"Great job, Goofy," Zora praised. "Rest up now. Kale, it's your time to shine!"

Zora sent out Kale the Meganium as Clair sent out her last Pokémon, her ace, Kingdra.

"One Pokémon left?" Clair commented surprised. "This is where the real battle begins!"

"Use PoisonPowder, Kale!" Zora ordered.

"Use Smokescreen!" Clair ordered.

Kale missed his PoisonPowder because of the smoke in his face. The next PoisonPowder hit though, and Kale took a normal Dragon Pulse. Zora decided to use a Super Potion though, in case Kingdra decided to use a Hyper Beam, in which case Kale needed all the health he had to tank it.

The Kingdra used another Dragon Pulse though, and Zora used another Super Potion, while the Kingdra suffered damage from poison. They did this another three times before Zora ran out of Super Potions, switching to Moomoo Milk instead, at which Kingdra ate its Sitrus Berry to heal up from the poison damage.

Kingdra fired another two Dragon Pulses, Zora healing up with Moomoo Milk afterwards another two times before Kingdra used Hyper Beam. Kale ate up the hit like it was nothing.

"Now's our chance!" Zora exclaimed. "Use Magical Leaf and take it out!"

The Kingdra having to rest, Kale fired off a Magical Leaf and took it down. Zora threw her arms in the air and cheered.

"Great job, Kale!" Zora praised. "You won the Gym!"

"I did it!" Kale said happily. "I finally participated in a Gym battle! And I won!"

"I lost…?" Clair said in disbelief as she withdrew her defeated Pokémon. "I don't believe it. There must be some mistake…"

Zora and Kale turned to look at Clair, their smiles falling. "What?" Zora said. "It was no mistake. I won, you lost. Now give me your Gym Badge!"

Clair frowned and shook her head. "I won't concede this," she protested. "I might have lost, you're still not ready for the Pokémon League."

Zora and Kale looked at Clair in disbelief. "What?" Zora said in surprise. "You're kidding! What do I have to do to convince you to give me the Badge?"

"I know," Clair said. "You should take the Dragon-master challenge. Behind this Gym is a place called Dragon's Den. There is a small shrine at its heart. Go there. If you can prove that you've lost your lazy ideals, I will admit you are a Trainer worthy of a Gym Badge!"

Zora and Kale frowned at Clair and her refusal to acknowledge Zora as a competent and victorious Trainer. Nonetheless, they left the Gym and healed up in the Pokémon Center before heading to the Dragon's Den to take the challenge… and get an encounter while there.

"We can only catch Magikarp and Dratini here," Zora informed Kale. "And from what I've researched online, we will be given a Dratini from these dragon people if we pass a test. I guess this is the test."

"So you want to catch a Magikarp from the water instead?" Kale asked.

"Yes," Zora replied. "Let's cross the water."

* * *

Zora sent out Goofy and used a repel to avoid encountering a Magikarp outside the Dragon's Den. Afterwards, they swam across the lake separating Dragon's Den from Blackthorn City. The elder standing guard by the cave entrance allowed them entry.

Before they could reach the water to get their encounter here though, they had to take care of a Trainer with a Dragonair. It had Thunder, Surf and Iron Tail, so Zora decided to let Kale stay in the front to face it. It used Dragon Rage twice and got Kale to low health, but Kale was able to take it out with three Headbutts.

"Well, that was close," Zora said as they left the Trainer. "Let's move on."

"Hey, Zora," Kale said. "I've been thinking about this for a while… How do you know all these things?"

Zora stopped and looked at her Meganium. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Like, you have all this information about the Gyms and several random Trainers around the region, and I guess I can understand that."

"Of course, it's all written online," Zora said.

"But what about Team Rocket?" Kale asked. "They're a criminal organization, right? They can't just be found wherever you found all the other information, right? How did you know which Pokémon they all had, not to mention what their move sets were? How do you know so much about every single person in the region? How do you know what's going to happen before it happens?"

Zora didn't answer right away. She looked out at the underground lake, at the building in the middle of the water. "I'm… not really sure myself," she admitted. "Ever since I first got that weird dream that gave me the ability to understand Pokémon, as well as my Nuzlocke curse… I've had some strange thoughts. It feels like I constantly have déjà vu."

"Déjà vu?" Kale repeated.

"Yeah, it feels like I've done this before," Zora said. "Twice, even. I think, one of those times, I might have been a boy…"

"I'm confused," Kale said. "I don't understand this. It doesn't make sense."

"I don't really understand it quite myself," Zora said. "At first I just thought they were strange dreams. But then they started coming true. Some of these strange memories that aren't my own included Team Rocket. That's how I knew they were rising again."

"But memories alone can't let you know exactly what Pokémon or moves Team Rocket has, right?"

"Well, these memories aren't perfect. But I did remember a particular name, which turned out to be the website I used for my research. It was… not a normal website."

"Not a normal website, how?"

"Well… it has information about the Johto region, as well as Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Some are things that happened in the past, some are present, but… it seems there's also information about events that have never happened. Or… that is… not having happened _yet_."

Kale cocked his head in confusion. "Wait, you mean that website has information… from the _future_?"

"I think so," Zora said. "I asked other people in New Bark Town about the website, but no one had ever heard of it before. Maybe only people with the Nuzlocke condition can access this website…"

"Did you ask Sid about it?" Kale asked.

"No, but perhaps I should," Zora said. "If he knows about it, maybe it is just Nuzlocke Trainers that can access it. It seems to be some sort of cross-dimensional-temporal-something website that tells us about the future. It had information on Team Rocket, as well as everything else here in the Johto region and the Kanto region as well."

"So… you know what's going to happen from now on?" Kale asked.

"More or less," Zora said. "But it's not perfect. I wrote down notes based on what I found of information, everything, from every single item to every single Pokémon to every single Trainer. My notebook is practically full, and I've even used some space on my Pokégear for notes. Thankfully they weren't deleted when it returned from repairs. Once I turned ten, though… the website suddenly disappeared."

"It disappeared?" Kale repeated surprised. "How can it just disappear?"

"I don't know," Zora admitted. "It appeared the first day I had this curse, but I didn't think much of it then. It was available to me for one month before it suddenly disappeared. Good thing I took notes."

Kale hummed at the explanation. "Maybe this is a sort of test?" Kale theorized. "Maybe someone is testing you. Giving you this ability, then giving you access to lots of information for a limited time, and then when you start your journey, you're on your own. You and your notes, as well as the Pokémon you get."

"Maybe," Zora said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. It just… kept slipping from my mind. I never really thought about it before. I guess I took it for granted…"

"It's fine," Kale said and nudged Zora in the side. "Now, let's move on and finish _this_ test. We can speculate more about this later."

* * *

They moved on and found a Calcium on the floor and a Revive behind a rock before heading to the water, now with Bambi in the front to let Kale rest. Before using Surf, Zora pulled out her Old Rod and threw the line into the water, standing at the small dock. An Old Rod would guarantee a Magikarp here.

The first throw didn't get her anything. On her second throw, however, the line shook, and she reeled in a Magikarp.

"Excellent," Zora said. "I'll try a Quick Ball first. This won't be a problem at all."

The Quick Ball shook three times and clicked for capture. Granted, she had wanted the Magikarp in a Lure Ball, but she was getting very uncertain about captures recently, even though Magikarp were probably the easiest Pokémon to catch.

"Alright, a female," Zora said and picked up the ball. "I will call you… Nessie."

Nessie's Quick Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center. Now they could get back to their test. Zora sighed and called out Goofy.

"Alright, so it seems we need Whirlpool to get through this place to that building over there," Zora said. "Which means you'll have to forget Confusion, Goofy. I don't think we'll need Whirlpool that much though, so when we're done with it, we can replace it with Waterfall, which is much better."

Goofy nodded. Zora pulled out the HM for Whirlpool and taught it to Goofy, deleting Confusion. Afterwards, Goofy jumped into the water, and Zora and Bambi stepped onto him. They swam across the water and arrived at a small piece of land where another Trainer stood and waited for them. She had two Horsea and a Seadra, all of which were taken out by a single Thunderbolt each.

Afterwards they swam across some more water and arrived at another small piece of land where two twin girls were waiting. Zora healed up Kale and Bambi and put the former in the second spot in the party, so they could fight against the girls' Dratini in a double battle. One Dratini had Thunderbolt and the other had Surf, so Kale and Bambi were the only ones safe to fight them.

Bambi used Strength on one Dratini while Kale used Headbutt on the other. Both Dratini used Headbutt on Kale. Kale took out one Dratini with another Headbutt, and Bambi took out the other with another Strength.

After picking up a Max Elixir from the floor, Zora went back out into the water on Goofy until they came across a whirlpool. Using the move Whirlpool, they made it safely across the real whirlpool and could move on. They swam on until they reached the entrance to the building standing in the water.

Zora and Bambi stepped inside the building and were met by three elders, one of them standing at the end of the room. Zora approached him.

"Hm… Good to see you here," the elder greeted. "No need to explain why you came. Clair sent you here, didn't she? That girl is a handful… I am sorry, but I must test you."

"Great," Zora said.

"Not to worry, you are to answer only a few questions," the elder assured. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"What are Pokémon to you? Ally, junior or friend?"

Zora hummed and thought for a moment, looking down at the small Ampharos by her side. She smiled and looked back at the elder. "Friend," she said.

"Oh, I understand…" the elder replied. "What helps you to win battles? Strategy, training or cheating?"

 _Both strategy and training helps me,_ Zora thought. _But lots of training means nothing if a strategy is bad._ "Strategy," she decided.

"Oh, I understand…" the elder replied again. "What kind of Trainer do you wish to battle? Weak, strong or anyone?"

Zora hummed and thought for a moment again. _Weak Trainers are easy,_ she thought. _But it's not honorable, and frankly boring to fight those. Strong Trainers are more exciting, but they can also be scary._ "Anyone," she decided.

"Oh, I understand…" the elder said. "What is most important for raising Pokémon? Love, violence or knowledge?"

Zora was about to answer, but then thought for a moment longer. _Violence does no good,_ she thought. _Silver is a good example of that. Love is important, but so is knowledge. However, you can have good knowledge but be mean to your Pokémon, and it won't like you so much. A Pokémon who loves you will put in more effort to make you proud and help you._ "Love is most important," Zora decided. "Knowledge won't do much good without trust between a Trainer and his or her Pokémon."

"Oh, I understand…" the elder replied again. "Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. Which is more important?"

Zora thought for a moment. _Strong Pokémon are sure to survive,_ she thought. _But weak Pokémon can become strong if you train them hard enough… maybe even a Delibird._ "Both," Zora decided instead.

The elder nodded and hummed. "Hm… I see…" he said. "You care deeply for Pokémon. Very commendable. That conviction is what is important! Zora, don't lose that belief. It will see you through at the Pokémon League."

"I sure hope so," Zora said.

A moment later, the door opened, and Clair stepped in. She walked up to Zora with a condescending smirk on her face.

"So how did it go?" she asked with little interest in her voice. "I guess there's no point in asking. You did fail?"

"No, I passed," Zora said.

Clair stared in silence for a while, then her smirk fell. "…What? You passed?" Clair stepped back in disbelief. "That can't be! You're lying! Even I haven't been approved!"

"You haven't?" Zora repeated in surprise.

The elder stepped forward and faced Clair. "Clair!" he said. "This child is impeccable, in skill and spirit! Admit defeat and confer the Rising Badge!"

"That's right," Zora said and glared at Clair. "I won, fair and square. I deserve that Badge."

Clair glared back at Zora, seemingly still unwilling to give up the Badge.

"…Or must I inform Lance of this?" the elder seemed to threaten.

The threat took Clair by surprise, and her glare fell. "I… I understand…" she said and stepped forward to Zora, presenting a Badge resembling a dragon's face. "Here, this is the Rising Badge… Hurry up! Take it!"

Zora snapped out of the confusion and accepted the Rising Badge from Clair, now finally having all eight Badges of the Johto region. She put it in her Badge case with the others.

"The Rising Badge will enable your Pokémon to use the move for climbing waterfalls," the elder explained. "Also, all Pokémon will know you as a Trainer and obey your every command without question." He returned to his spot between the two Pokémon statues. "Clair… Reflect upon what it is that you lack and this child has."

Clair didn't reply. She shook her head in disbelief and stormed out of the building without a word. The elder sighed.

"By the way…" he said. "Have you heard of Lugia?"

"I think so," Zora said. "It's a legendary Pokémon, isn't it? What about it?"

"Er…" the elder said. "Between Olivine and Cianwood are islands called Whirl Islands. There is a huge waterfall deep in the cave there. It is said that Lugia rests in the deep end of the waterfall basin… You need a Silver Wing to reach the waterfall basin, I've heard…"

"Okay," Zora said. "I guess we'll check that out later then. Let's get out of here, Bambi."

They used an Escape Rope and left the Dragon's Den. As soon as they were outside, Professor Elm called on the phone.

" _Hello, Zora? How's it going?_ "

"It's going well, Professor," Zora replied. "What's up?"

" _I've gotten hold of something neat. Swing by my Lab and pick it up! See you later!_ "

With that, Professor Elm hung up. Zora looked down at Bambi. "Let's go see what he wants."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone pointed out the plot hole with Zora knowing about Team Rocket when they were supposed to be underground, so... I had to come up with an explanation for that. I had hoped I didn't have to... ^^;  
> Oh well, eight badges down, still no deaths!  
> Now we just have to defeat the Kimono Girls, face Lugia, defeat my rival in Victory Road, and then it's time for the Indigo League!  
> We're so close... to a milestone. We're far from done, but we're close to a break.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 8  
> Live Pokémon: 48  
> Death counter: 0


	30. Guardian of the Sea

Before they left Blackthorn City, Zora remembered they had one thing left to do. They returned to the Gym and went through the Gym puzzle until they reached Clair at the end.

"You've kept me waiting!" Clair complained. "Here! Take this!"

Clair handed over a disc labeled TM59 to Zora, who accepted it and put it with the other TMs and HMs.

"That contains Dragon Pulse," Clair explained. "Well, Dragon Pulse is a kind of… umm… Never mind! It's a huge energy of some kind. If you don't want it, you don't have to take it."

"I'll take it, thanks," Zora said, but didn't leave right away.

"What's the matter? Aren't you headed to the Pokémon League?" Clair studied Zora's face. "Your face… it tells me you have some unfinished business…"

Clair's eyes widened. "Wait a sec! You came from New Bark Town where Professor Elm's Lab is, right? You may want to go back to New Bark Town. Whatever you have to face from now, it'll be more difficult. But don't you dare give up! If you do, I'll feel even worse about having lost to you!"

"I won't give up," Zora promised. "And I won't lose. I can't afford to lose. Ever."

Clair looked at Zora in silence for a moment, then gave her a small smile. "…Give it your all."

Zora smiled back. "I will," she said. "Thanks for the TM. Goodbye, Clair."

Zora left the Gym again and went to the Pokémon Center, letting everyone out in the lounge.

"You all did well in there, team," Zora said with a smile. "But now that the Pokémon League is coming up… we're going to have to make an adjustment to our team."

The Pokémon looked around at each other.

"Tails," Zora said and turned to the Ninetales. "I'm sorry, you'll have to go back in the box. You were a great help to us against Jasmine and Pryce, as well as any time we need fire. But for the League… we're going to need Coco. I hope you understand."

Tails didn't seem too bothered. "It's fine," he said and waved his nine tails once. "I'm glad to have done my best for the team, and I'm glad everyone's still alive. I'll help any other time you need me. I wish you the best of luck on the rest of your journey, Zora."

Everyone said goodbye to Tails before Zora deposited him in the box again. However, she didn't take out Coco right away.

"I need to check something," Zora informed her team. "We need to go back to Dragon's Den and see if my suspicions are correct. If not… we have three Escape Ropes. Actually, I think Crisper should wait in the box for a bit, too, so Fly Boy can take us away afterwards. Is that okay, Crisper?"

"Sure thing," Crisper replied. "I'll wait for you to return."

Crisper was put in the box as well, and Fly Boy was taken out. With that, Zora returned to the Dragon's Den, swam across the water, crossed the whirlpool and eventually returned to the building with the elders in it. Zora approached the one beside the Pokémon statues.

"Hm… Good to see you here," the elder said. "Your arrival is most fortunate. I have something for you. Take this Dratini as proof that I now know your worth."

"Yes, please!" Zora said and accepted the Dratini, putting it in her party. "A male. I will call you… Puff."

Puff hummed at his name. "Alright then," he said and went into his Poké Ball.

"Dragon Pokémon are symbolic of our clan," the elder explained. "You have shown that you can be entrusted with one."

Zora nodded. "Thank you," she said. "I will take my leave now."

As soon as they stepped outside the building, Zora used another Escape Rope and arrived at the entrance to the Dragon's Den. She called out Fly Boy to take them to New Bark Town so they could meet up with Professor Elm in his lab and see what he wanted. Zora decided to have Kale out to show Elm how strong her Starter had grown since last they met.

As soon as Zora and Kale stepped inside, Ethan came to greet them.

"Zora!" Ethan greeted. "Did you already collect eight Badges? That's so cool! The professor is waiting for you."

Ethan and Zora walked together up to Professor Elm, with Kale walking behind them.

"Hi, Zora!" Elm greeted. "You never cease to amaze me! Thanks to you, my research is going great! Take this as a token of my appreciation."

Elm handed over a purple Poké Ball with a pair of pink dots on the sides and a white M on the front. It was the legendary Master Ball, very hard to construct and there were very few of them in the world.

"The Master Ball is the best!" Professor Elm said. "It's the ultimate Poké Ball! It'll catch any Pokémon without fail. It's given only to noted Pokémon researchers. I think you can make much better use of it than I can, Zora!"

"Thanks," Zora replied with a smile and put the Master Ball with the other Poké Balls.

"By the way…" Elm continued. "We just had a group of beautiful Kimono Girls looking for you."

"You did?" Zora replied. "Why?"

"Zora, people are talking about you!" Ethan exclaimed. "I heard you helped Kimono Girls? You've been helping all these people! You make me proud to be your friend."

"Uh… okay," Zora said.

With that, Ethan left the lab. Professor Elm cleared his throat to get Zora's attention again.

"The Kimono Girls are waiting for you at the Ecruteak Dance Theater," he said.

"Got'cha," Zora said. "Guess we're going there, then. Let's go, Kale."

* * *

Fly Boy took the team to Ecruteak City, where Zora went to the Pokémon Center and deposited Fly Boy and Puff in the box, taking out Crisper again, as well as Coco. The whole team was brought out in the lounge to welcome the Umbreon back on the team.

"Welcome back, kiddo," Dingbat said. "We missed you."

"Glad to be back," Coco said and looked around. "So you decided not to have Omelet on the team anymore?"

"Yes, he's okay," Zora said. "He's just in the box for now. Goofy's become a permanent part of the team now."

Coco looked at Goofy the Slowbro, who smiled and yawned. "I see…" Coco said. "You all seem pretty strong. I feel weak compared to you…"

"That's why we're going to train you up again," Zora said. "And I think our next task is the perfect opportunity to do so."

"You mean the Kimono Girls?" Bambi asked.

"Yes," Zora said. "From the information I got from that website, they each have an evolution of Eevee; Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon and Umbreon."

Coco perked at the mention of the Eeveelutions. "Others like me?" he said.

"Yes," Zora replied. "But before we fight them, we'll have to train you up a bit, so you stand a chance against them. I'd like for you to at least learn Faint Attack before we challenge the Kimono Girls. We'll train you against Tentacool and Tentacruel on the beach at Olivine City like last time. Understood?"

Coco nodded. "Understood!" he replied. "Let's go!"

Zora put everyone but Coco back in their Poké Balls, then went to the PC and put Fly Boy in Crisper's spot on the team, so they could fly to Olivine City and start training. She gave Coco the Shell Bell to hold, so he could regain a little health whenever he did damage.

Coco ended up defeating a total of forty-seven Tentacool and six Tentacruel before he reached level thirty-six and learned Faint Attack, which Zora decided to replace Bite with for now. Coco still had Confuse Ray, Quick Attack and Sand-Attack as well.

Not being happy with Quick Attack, Zora decided to fly to Azalea Town and venture through Ilex Forest to teach Coco Headbutt instead, as it was stronger. Since they couldn't fly out of the dense forest, they had to use an Escape Rope to get back to the town.

With Coco's training finished for now, Zora flew back to Ecruteak City, deposited Fly Boy in the box again, withdrawing Crisper and having the team back together. They went to the Dance Theater to confront the Kimono Girls…

Silver barged out from the theater and pushed Zora backwards, almost making her fall over. She managed to keep her balance though. Silver had his back facing Zora.

"How…?" Silver said in disbelief, barely noticing Zora being there. "How is this possible? How can I lose to mere Kimono Girls…?"

"Hey!" Zora exclaimed.

Silver finally noticed Zora's presence and turned around. "You were watching me, Zora…"

"Uh, actually, I only just arrived…"

"Yeah, that's right!" Silver said, ignoring Zora's statement. "I never thought defeating five Kimono Girls would be so hard… I got beaten to a pulp…"

"Serves you right," Zora said quietly. "I still haven't forgiven you for ruining my Team Rocket outfit…"

Silver looked at Zora in silence for a moment. "You must have come here for the same reason, right?" he asked. "Don't get cocky just because you defeated Team Rocket! These Kimono Girls are insanely strong. Go ahead! See if you can defeat them. But I'm not going back. I don't want to see you win."

Silver pushed Zora away and stomped slowly away before setting into a run.

"Bet he's crying," Zora said and sighed. "I hate guys that act tough and mean but they're real pushovers."

"You think he lost to the Kimono Girls because he is weak?" Coco asked.

"Partly the reason, but I'm sure he's right about the Kimono Girls being strong. We have to be careful in there. I will let you fight as much as possible to get as much experience as possible, but if things don't look good, I will switch you out with someone else on the team. Do your best, Coco. I won't let you die. Now, come on, let's go."

They entered the Dance Theater and confronted the five Kimono Girls, each having met Zora at some point during her journey. Zora gazed at them all five. Initially they seemed identical, even with their faces. Zora couldn't tell how Bambi was able to tell them apart, even though he claimed they had different faces. Regardless, Zora walked up on the stage and faced the first Kimono Girl, standing in the middle.

"Welcome," the Kimono Girl said. "My name is Zuki. I met you previously in Violet City. In order to bring back Lugia, we needed someone with the right bond with Pokémon. We asked Mr. Pokémon to give this Mystery Egg to whoever showed true potential. The Egg was eventually handed from Mr. Pokémon to Professor Elm, and then to you."

Zora smiled at the memory of receiving the egg from Elm's assistant and then hatching it into Omelet the Togepi, now a Togetic. She felt bad about letting him stay in the box, but he had been part of the team for a very long time. Certainly the Kimono Girls would understand why Zora didn't have this pure Pokémon on her team anymore.

"However, being pure alone will not be sufficient to face the power of this Pokémon," Zuki continued. "I must test you. Are you ready?"

Zora looked down at Coco. "Are _you_ ready?" Zora asked quietly.

Coco nodded. "Bring 'em on!" he said.

Zora nodded back and looked at Zuki. "I am ready," she said.

Zuki spun in an elegant movement before stopping and bowing slightly. "I will test how closely you've bonded with your Pokémon!"

Zuki drew a Poké Ball and sent out an Umbreon. Zora nodded at Coco, and he stepped forward.

"Alright, Coco," Zora said. "Use Headbutt! Show them who's the best Umbreon!"

"Use Confuse Ray!" Zuki ordered.

Zuki's Umbreon was faster than Coco, being two levels higher, and managed to confuse Coco. However, Coco broke through and landed a Headbutt. The foe's Umbreon seemed unfazed by the attack.

"Drat, that does not do a lot of damage," Zora said. "And now Coco's confused. I should've trained his physical attack… Alright, Coco, I know you want to fight this, but it's safer if we send in Crisper. Get back!"

Reluctantly, Coco stepped back as Zora sent out Crisper. Just then, Zuki's Umbreon launched a Shadow Ball and hit Crisper, though it did not do a lot of damage.

"Hit it with Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Another Confuse Ray!" Zuki ordered.

Umbreon landed another Confuse Ray on Crisper, confusing her. Crisper couldn't focus and ended up hurting herself in her confusion. Zora gave Crisper a Lum Berry to get rid of the confusion.

"Use Dark Pulse!" Zuki ordered.

Umbreon launched a Dark Pulse, and Zora cringed. Crisper did not have good special defense. Dark Pulse took Crisper down to a third of her total health.

"Okay, new plan," Zora said and withdrew Crisper. "Crisper, get back! Kale, get out here!"

Kale was sent out to take another Dark Pulse from Zuki's Umbreon. Kale had much better special defense and barely got hurt.

"Use PoisonPowder, Kale!" Zora ordered.

PoisonPowder hit, and Zuki's Umbreon got poisoned. However, thanks to Umbreon's ability, Synchronize, Kale got poisoned as well.

"Use Last Resort!" Zuki ordered.

Umbreon landed a critical hit Last Resort and got Kale to a little below half his health. Both were hurt by poison. Zora decided to use her only Full Restore to heal up Kale and get rid of the poison. She was beginning to think she had gotten into this fight unprepared.

The next Last Resort didn't do much to Kale, to Zora's relief.

"Use Headbutt!" Zora ordered.

Kale didn't do much damage, but the Umbreon did flinch. Another Headbutt, and it flinched again.

"One last Headbutt!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

With one last Headbutt, the Umbreon finally went down, and Zora withdrew Kale. Zuki smiled and bowed as she withdrew her fainted Umbreon. Zuki stepped back, and now the Kimono Girl from the far left stepped forward to face Zora next.

"You are quite strong," she said. "You helped me in Ilex Forest. My name is Naoko. I'm the one that's not so good at directions. My eyes witnessed you defeating Team Rocket when Kurt was in trouble at the Slowpoke Well. Allow me to challenge you and your Pokémon!"

Naoko drew a Poké Ball and sent out an Espeon. This time, Zora wasn't as worried.

"Swift is the only move right now that can hurt you," Zora said to Coco as he stepped forward. "You should be fine. Use Faint Attack!"

"Use Swift!" Naoko ordered.

Espeon went first but didn't do much damage with Swift. Coco's Faint Attack landed a critical hit and took out the Espeon in one hit, surprising Zora.

"Great job, Coco!" Zora praised.

Naoko withdrew her fainted Espeon and stepped back. The next Kimono Girl stepped forward from the far right and approached Zora.

"You are quite the Trainer," she said. "I remember you chasing off that Team Rocket Grunt from right here. I must thank you for that. Although, I am actually a Trainer myself. She who knows the most speaks the least! I am Miki – the Kimono Girl! Allow me to challenge you and your Pokémon!"

Miki drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Flareon. Zora gestured for Coco to step forward. Zora thought for a moment.

 _Flareon has most physical attack, so a Quick Attack or Last Resort will probably do a lot of damage,_ she thought. _But it has bad physical defense, and its special attack is only its third highest stat. It should have about the same speed as Umbreon._ "Coco, use Faint Attack!" Zora ordered.

Coco out-sped the Flareon with Faint Attack but it didn't do much.

"Use Fire Blast!" Miki ordered.

Flareon landed a Fire Blast and took Coco to almost half his health. Zora was worried.

"A crit Fire Blast will kill," she said. "But if we heal up and it misses and doesn't get to use Last Resort, we should be fine…"

Zora decided to use a Moomoo Milk on Coco to get him back to full health. Flareon used Will-O-Wisp, which did not make things better.

"Okay, new plan," Zora said. "Step back, Coco. Go, Goofy!"

Coco stepped back, and Goofy was sent out. Flareon landed another Fire Blast, but it did almost nothing.

"Use Surf!" Zora ordered.

Flareon landed another Will-O-Wisp on Goofy before Goofy took it out with a single Surf. Zora hummed with worry. Two of her Pokémon were now burned while Crisper was on low health. And they still had two more Kimono Girls to fight.

Miki withdrew her fainted Flareon and stepped back, allowing the Kimono Girl from the middle left to step forward.

"Excellent fighting spirit!" she said. "You got me off the ice by pushing me from the back. I am the one who skates in sandals. I am Sayo – the Kimono Girl! I was listening in the Dragon's Den when you passed the test of the Elder. Allow me to challenge you and your Pokémon!"

Sayo drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Jolteon. Coco stepped forward, despite his discomfort with the burn.

"Coco, step back again," Zora said. "Crisper, you're up!"

Coco stepped back, and Crisper was sent out instead. Crisper was badly bruised, but the Jolteon went for a Thunderbolt, which didn't affect Crisper at all.

"Aren't you… going to heal me up?" Crisper asked in disbelief.

"It's fine, it can only hurt you with Last Resort, and it has to use Double Team and Thunder Wave before it can do that," Zora explained. "You can take it out with a single Earthquake. Go!"

Crisper hummed and initiated an Earthquake. The Jolteon used Double Team but was unable to avoid the Earthquake, going down in a single hit.

"There we go," Zora said relieved. "Good job, Crisper. Now rest up. There's just one Kimono Girl remaining."

Crisper returned to her Poké Ball, as did Sayo's Jolteon. Sayo bowed and stepped back to allow the final Kimono Girl approach Zora, having stood in the middle right.

"I am the last one," she said. "You were so dependable at the Goldenrod Tunnel. I am the one who twirls even underground. I am Kuni – the Kimono Girl! I looked at you in wonder when you thwarted Team Rocket's mission to take over the Radio Tower. You must show your strength to me now. Allow me to challenge you and your Pokémon!"

Kuni drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Vaporeon. Coco stepped forward again.

"Let's let Bambi take care of this, buddy," Zora said to Coco. "Step back and watch. Go, Bambi!"

Bambi was sent out to face the Vaporeon, which used Surf. Bambi was taken to almost half his health, worrying Zora.

 _Okay, Vaporeon has a ton of health and higher special defense than physical defense,_ Zora thought. _Bambi will die if the next Surf is a crit. I have to heal him up now. Then maybe we can try a ThunderPunch._

Zora healed up Bambi with a Moomoo Milk to full health. Vaporeon used Surf again, bringing him back to the same amount of health he had before. Zora used another Moomoo milk to heal him up. The Vaporeon used another Surf. Zora used another Moomoo Milk. Vaporeon used another Surf. Zora used another Moomoo Milk. Another Surf. Another Moomoo Milk. Another Surf. Another Moomoo Milk.

Vaporeon used another Surf, which landed a critical hit and got Bambi to a quarter of his maximum health. Zora felt her heart pounding in her chest.

"Good call, good call," Zora said with a shaking voice and used her last Moomoo Milk to heal up Bambi to full health again.

The Vaporeon used another Surf, not a crit this time. It had used eight Surfs now, and it had seven Surfs left to use. Zora decided the best move for now was to keep stalling with healing and tanking until it used another move. Zora healed up Bambi again, now using a Hyper Potion.

The Vaporeon used its ninth Surf, a strong one, and Zora used another Hyper Potion. The Vaporeon hit a weaker Surf, but Zora still used another Hyper Potion. Five power points left. Eighteen Hyper Potions left.

The Vaporeon launched another Surf, and Zora used another Hyper Potion. Another Surf, another Hyper Potion. Another Surf again, followed by another Hyper Potion. Two Surfs left.

The Vaporeon used yet another Surf, now only having one left. Zora used another Hyper Potion and waited for the final Surf to heal up.

The Vaporeon used its last Surf, and Zora used another Hyper Potion, then waited to see what it would do next.

Having no Surfs left, Vaporeon went for Aurora Beam, which barely did any damage to Bambi, though it did lower his attack stat.

"Alright, now's our time!" Zora said. "Try a ThunderPunch!"

Vaporeon used another Aurora Beam before Bambi hit a ThunderPunch, taking the Vaporeon to nearly half its health. Bambi was also near half his own health, but he could take a critical hit Aurora Beam if that came to be.

"Another ThunderPunch!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

Vaporeon used another Aurora Beam, taking Bambi to below half his health. Bambi used ThunderPunch and almost knocked out the Vaporeon.

"Alright, here," Zora said and used another Hyper Potion on Bambi.

Vaporeon used another Aurora Beam and lowered Bambi's attack again, but Zora was not concerned.

"Finish it!" Zora ordered. " _ThunderPunch!_ "

Vaporeon landed another Aurora Beam, which Bambi took easily, and he launched one last ThunderPunch. The Vaporeon collapsed on the floor, finally taken out. Zora threw her arms in the air and cheered, as did Bambi.

"We did it!" Zora cheered and hugged her small Ampharos. "We defeated the Kimono Girls! Great job, Bambi!"

Bambi giggled and was let down before being sent back into his Poké Ball. Coco grinned at the victory, despite still hurting from his burn. Kuni withdrew her fainted Vaporeon and stepped back to her spot. Zuki stepped forward from the middle and bowed before Zora in an elegant movement.

"We were not wrong about you," Zuki said. "You are indeed worthy of this… Please take it."

Zuki drew out a silver-colored bell of some sort, called the Tidal Bell. She handed it over to Zora, who accepted it. Suddenly someone barged through the door, a little girl who ran up the stage to the Kimono Girls.

"Big sisters!" the little girl exclaimed. "I just saw the big shadow of a Pokémon in the Whirl Islands' waters!"

Zora cocked an eyebrow. _But the Whirl Islands are so far away,_ she thought. _Did she run here all the way from Olivine City or something?_

"It could be…" the little girl said.

Zuki gasped and turned to Zora. "Zora!" she said. "We'll be at the Whirl Islands. See you there!"

With that, the five Kimono Girls and the little girl, that was apparently their little sister, took off. Zora hummed.

"Now I get why they look so similar," Zora commented. "They're sisters! Could they be quintuplets or something…?"

"Is that really your biggest concern right now…?" Coco asked judgmentally.

Zora snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the injured Umbreon. "Right, sorry," she said. "Let's go to the Pokémon Center and prepare for take-off."

* * *

Before taking off for Cianwood City, Zora decided to fly to Goldenrod City and go play more Voltorb Flip at the Game Corner, so she could afford the Flamethrower TM for Crisper, now that Tails was in the box and it would still be good with a Fire-type move on the team. Zora was pleasantly surprised to learn that Golem could learn Flamethrower, and it was the only of the elemental trio TMs that she hadn't bought from the Game Corner yet.

Like last time, Zora let out her whole team so they could entertain each other while she played Voltorb Flip. She played a total of one hundred and sixty-eight games, winning seventy-seven of them and losing the remaining ninety-one, before she could afford Flamethrower and teach it to Crisper. By then, it had become evening, but Zora was confident they could get into Whirl Islands, capture Lugia and get out again before midnight.

Zora decided to give her two Proteins to Coco, to improve his physical attack, as well as the one Iron she had, to increase his physical defense a little. She decided to give Bambi the one Calcium and Carbos she had, to improve his special attack and speed a little.

After that, Zora decided to put Coco back in the box temporarily while they were in Whirl Islands, keeping Fly Boy on the team instead, so they could instantly fly to Ecruteak City, from where they would enter Mt. Mortar and get the Tyrogue they could now finally acquire, then fly back to Cherrygrove City and begin their journey towards the Indigo Plateau where the Pokémon League resided.

They arrived in Cianwood City and took off to sea with Bambi in the front. As soon as they reached Route 41, Zora pulled out her Good Rod, to finally get her encounter in the area. She could get either a Shellder or a Chinchou with a Good Rod, so she just had to be patient.

Zora fished up and threw away a Magikarp and a Tentacool before encountering a Chinchou.

"Ooh, good encounter!" Zora said happily. "I'll try a Quick Ball."

The ball shook three times and clicked for capture. The color coordination was also perfect for this one. Goofy picked up the Quick Ball with his mouth, and Zora accepted it.

"A male," Zora noted. "I will call you Angelo."

Angelo's Quick Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center. Zora used a Max Repel to prevent other wild Pokémon from leaping out at them. They went to the Whirl Islands, and Zora followed a map she had of the area, until they arrived at the southeastern island, which was supposed to be the one that would take them to where Lugia was.

Upon entering the cave, it was very dark. Zora hummed.

"Perhaps we should have brought Cash instead of Fly Boy," Zora said. "Or maybe we should go back and get him, and then put Crisper in the box as well. It doesn't seem like we'll need Rock Smash here at all."

"Do we have an encounter here?" Bambi asked.

"Yes, we can only get a Seel here," Zora replied. "We'll at least get that before we return to Cianwood and get Cash."

They wandered around the cave entrance, running from a Krabby before running into a Seel.

"Perfect," Zora said. "I'll try a Quick Ball first."

The Quick Ball shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Seel Ariel before it materialized away. Then they left the cave and took Fly Boy back to Cianwood City to get Cash and put him in Crisper's spot on the team. They returned to the sea, found the right island again and entered the cave. Zora brought Cash out of his Poké Ball.

"Use Flash, Cash!" Zora ordered.

"As you wish, milady!" Cash replied, and the gem on his forehead lit up, shining light around them so they could finally see.

"Good, keep it up," Zora said, and the threesome walked on through the cave, trying to find the right way.

Zora picked up a bunch of items as they went through the cave and out, here among a Rare Candy, a Calcium, three Ultra Balls, an Escape Rope, four Stardusts, a Pearl, three Full Restores, a Nugget, a Super Repel, a Carbos, a Max Elixir, a Revive and a Max Revive.

Zora went around the cave through the different entrances to get all the items, trying to use as few of her Max Repels as possible, before going to the actual right cave entrance, which was the _north_ eastern entrance. They went up and down the ladders until they arrived in a brighter part of the cave, looking over a cliff with water below.

A bald man, probably a monk, stood near the cliff, blocking the only way to walk down from it. Zora returned Cash to his Poké Ball, as Flash was no longer needed here, and she and Bambi approached the monk. His eyes widened as Zora brought out the Silver Wing and Tidal Bell.

"That thing you have…!" he remarked. "You have found it… Please go ahead."

The monk stepped aside and allowed Zora and Bambi to pass. They walked into the nearest cave entrance right below them, taking them to a sort of 'balcony', looking over a giant waterfall right below them. Zora picked up a Rare Candy lying on the ground, and the two of them stood and just admired the waterfall for a moment.

"Are you ready, Bambi?" Zora asked and looked down at the small Ampharos.

Bambi nodded and smiled with determination. "Ready," he replied. "Let's go meet Lugia!"

* * *

They went down the path leading to the bottom of the cliff, where another cave entrance was situated near the water. Zora took a deep breath and exhaled before walking through the entrance.

They found themselves within the giant cavern with the giant waterfall. It looked even larger from this angle. On a small hill just in front of the entrance stood the five Kimono Girls and waited for Zora. Zora put Bambi back in his Poké Ball before she approached the Kimono Girls, as he seemed tense from all this noise and the anticipation of meeting with a legendary Pokémon.

"That's right," Zuki said. "This is where we welcome Lugia. When the dance we practiced many days becomes one with the sound of the Tidal Bell we entrusted with you, then Lugia shall come out from deep within the waterfall basin once again!"

The Tidal Bell was brought up to the mound in the middle of the hill and started ringing a magical chime. The Kimono Girls started dancing around the Tidal Bell, and suddenly the bells hanging on the two rocks beside the hill began chiming too.

Everything went quiet, and Zora thought she could see a shadow behind the giant waterfall. Suddenly, the waterfall broke, water splashing out, and a giant white and blue dragon-bird-like creature came out from it, screeching. The creature flapped its wings steadily as it descended to just above the surface of the water. It spread out its wings and screeched once again. Zora stared breathlessly at its beauty and awesomeness. The Kimono Girls had also stopped their dancing, and the bells their chiming.

"That is indeed Lugia…" Zuki remarked in wonder. "The guardian of these islands from ancient times… So many have tried again and again, only to fail… Zora, your heart in complete harmony with the Tidal Bell has finally allowed it to appear…"

Zuki turned around to face Zora, to get her attention. "Zora, don't you see?" Zuki said. "Lugia… It must have been waiting for someone like you all this time. Wouldn't you agree…?"

Zora looked around at the Kimono Girls, who gave Zora small gazes.

"This is all we can do for you…" they said. "What you do now is entirely up to you…"

Zora took another deep breath and walked around the mound, heading to the small stairs leading to the water where Lugia was waiting. It flapped its wings steadily, keeping a close eye on Zora with its cold yet soft gaze. It was hard to read its expression. Then again, Lugia were extremely rare Pokémon, so rare they were legendary. Who knew how to read these things' body language or facial expressions?

"Perhaps it's time for me to find out," Zora said and put her hand in her bag. She drew a ball.

Zora called out Goofy and got onto him to Surf over to Lugia. Goofy didn't seem particularly concerned about the huge bird-dragon-thing right in front of them. They approached Lugia…

Lugia screeched and backed up, taking a battle position. It was level forty-five. Zora held the ball in her hand.

With one strong movement, she threw the Master Ball at Lugia. It captured the Pokémon without failure.

"No way am I fighting Lugia," Zora said and accepted the ball from Goofy. "I'll call you Neptune."

Neptune's Master Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora got Goofy to Surf them back to the hill. Zora returned Goofy to his Poké Ball before confronting the Kimono Girls again.

"You have not only made Lugia appear, but you also caught it…" Zuki commented. "You are so wonderful. There is nothing more for us to say. Take good care of yourself in your journey…"

"You've done a great job," the other Kimono Girls said. "Say hello to Professor Elm for us."

"I will," Zora said and pulled out an Escape Rope. "I will see you in Ecruteak City later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, those Kimono Girls are tough. Especially that Vaporeon and Umberon.  
> We're so close... I believe there are only two chapters until the break I mentioned last time.  
> The story is far from over, but once we reach that milestone, I will work on my other stories once again, including TGTBAS, SOS and WWD among others. Maybe even TGOC as well.  
> For now though, let's see if we can make it through the Elite Four and beat the Champion without any deaths... damn, imagine if I could beat this entire Nuzlocke without a single death...  
> We'll see in due time.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 8  
> Live Pokémon: 52  
> Death counter: 0


	31. Victory Road

With Lugia captured and nicknamed Neptune, Zora got Fly Boy to fly the team back to New Bark Town, where they would visit Zora's mother and make plans for what to do next.

"Eight Badges already!" Zora's mother remarked and hugged her daughter. "I'm so proud of you, Zora! I'll make you dinner before you go to bed. Shall I make your favorite dish?"

"Yes, please, mom," Zora replied with a smile. "Spaghetti with meat sauce."

Zora's mother got to work in the kitchen while Zora went upstairs and let out her team. The floor was very solid and surprisingly able to hold up both a Meganium, a Crobat, a Slowpoke and a small but still heavy Ampharos.

"Tomorrow, after we eat breakfast, we'll travel around the region and get the last few encounters we have here," Zora said. "Excluding the Cliff Edge Gate, since we'll need Rock Climb to get to the water and get a Wooper. We'll also go to Mt. Mortar so we can finally get that Tyrogue."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Dingbat said. "And then we'll head to the Pokémon League?"

"Yes," Zora replied. "Once we have all our encounters here in Johto, we'll head east from here and get to Victory Road, which is the only way to get to the Indigo Plateau."

"Are we strong enough to challenge the League yet?" Bambi asked concerned.

"Not quite," Zora replied. "The Elite Four will have Pokémon at levels in the mid forties, while the Champion's Pokémon will range from level forty-eight to fifty."

"Oh, so we're not that far off," Dingbat said.

"That's right," Zora said. "We just need to train a bit in Victory Road once we get the flight path to the Indigo Plateau. We'll also need to max out your effort values – all of you. Not you, Fly Boy and Cash. But Crisper and Coco."

"I understand," Fly Boy said. "I'll just continue to work as your air transport."

"Whatever you wish, milady," Cash replied and boxed his head.

Zora nodded and smiled. "I'm very proud of all of you," she said. "We've come so far. We're so close to getting this curse lifted… I'm not sure if we will challenge the League tomorrow or the day after. We may want to capture and train tomorrow, then rest up for the night and challenge the Elite Four the day after."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kale said. "Do we have a plan for how to take them on?"

"I will think of something once we get there," Zora said. "It's too soon to lay out a plan now. Things can still go wrong. We still have to get to Victory Road, and then we have to fight the Trainers situated there. Unfortunately I couldn't find any data on the Trainers in Victory Road on the website I researched on, so we'll have to be really careful and prepared. They're likely going to be pretty strong."

The Pokémon looked around at each other, some of them gulping. Goofy looked unconcerned, as usual. Eventually Zora's mother came up with dinner for everyone; spaghetti with meat sauce for Zora, and berries for her Pokémon.

After dinner, they went to sleep, cuddled up together on the floor, Dingbat hanging from the ceiling, holding onto some loose plank or something, and Bambi cuddled up to Zora in her bed. Whenever Bambi was out of his Poké Ball and sleeping at night, he would always sleep beside Zora. Despite how high level he was now, and despite how much experience he had in battle now, he was still just a baby, barely even a month old. He was much smaller and lighter than other Ampharos, such as Amphy in the Shining Lighthouse, being just a head shorter and a little lighter than Zora in weight, whereas grown Ampharos were normally taller than even Zora herself, and one and a half times heavier than her.

Zora loved all her Pokémon, but Bambi was her favorite. She still remembered the day she hatched him from an egg, on the very first day of her Pokémon journey. He had been with her since the very first day, along with Kale and Dingbat. Fly Boy had also been with them since day one, though nowadays he was only used for flight, so Zora didn't feel as attached to him.

Despite his experience in battle, Bambi still had that innocence youngsters had. He wanted everyone to live. He wouldn't accept any deaths or any sacrifices. If it wasn't for Bambi, Zora would have sacrificed some of the Pokémon she had caught, and if it wasn't for Bambi, Zora would not have zero deaths to this day. That was the truth. He was so pure, so small, so innocent. Despite his battle prowess, he was still a kid.

 _I won't let you die, Bambi,_ Zora thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep. _No matter what, you must not die…_

* * *

The next morning, after Zora and her Pokémon had eaten breakfast, they took off immediately, promising her mother that they would be back the next day. They started in Ecruteak City, where they swam around in the water in the pond, until they encountered a Poliwag.

Zora tried a Quick Ball first. It shook three times and clicked for capture. She named the male Poliwag Bruce, and the ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center.

With the Ecruteak City encounter out of the way, Zora decided to fly to Blackthorn City, so Goofy could unlearn Whirlpool and learn Waterfall instead. However, when trying to teach Goofy Waterfall… it failed.

"What?" Zora exclaimed confused. "Why can't you learn Waterfall? You're a fricking Water-type! You can cross whirlpools but you can't climb up a waterfall?!"

Goofy cocked his head in seeming confusion. Zora sighed.

"Now what do we do?" she said concerned. "Without Waterfall, we can't get to the Karate King in Mt. Mortar who has the Tyrogue. But worse yet… we won't be able to get to Victory Road either."

Bambi looked concerned at Goofy. "Don't we have someone else in the box who can learn Waterfall?" he asked.

"Probably," Zora replied. "But then we'd need an extra spot. Perhaps we should use someone else to travel up waterfalls and wait with using Goofy again until we reach the Indigo Plateau." Zora thought for a moment. "Actually, this isn't too bad."

Zora went to the move reminder and handed over a Heart Scale, in exchange for teaching Goofy Disable.

"Why did you teach him that move?" Bambi asked.

"All part of my plan for the Elite Four," Zora replied. " _If_ everyone survives the trip to the League, that is. I will tell you later."

They returned to the Pokémon Center, and for curiosity's sake, Zora checked if her Shiny Tentacool, Grid, could learn Waterfall. He could.

"Seems like you'll come in handy after all, Grid," Zora said with a smile. "You pretty little thing."

As such, Zora decided to put Goofy in the box for the moment while Grid was taught Surf, Waterfall and Whirlpool just for the heck of it. He would not be used in battle, simply for travel.

Zora looked through her notes and realized she never got her encounter in the Ruins of Alph and decided to go there next. They flew to Violet City and replaced Cash the Persian with Crisper the Golem.

Zora used a Max Repel to prevent water Pokémon from popping out, and surfed across the water until she realized she couldn't access grass this way. She had to go to Union Cave, navigate through it and fight two hikers, first one with a Geodude and a Machop, and then one with a Geodude and a Graveler. Kale took out the two Geodude and Graveler, while Dingbat took out the Machop.

Zora got up through the right stairs and arrived in Ruins of Alph, with access to grass. They walked around in the tall grass until they encountered a Natu.

Zora tried a Quick Ball first. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Natu Raven before it materialized away.

Having gotten the Ruins of Alph encounter out of the way, Zora had Crisper smash some rocks until they found an Old Amber, which they could turn into a Pokémon later. They also found a Rare Candy behind a rock and a Hyper Potion on the ground.

Zora got Fly Boy to fly them to Cianwood City again, and they arrived in Route 47. They went through the Cliff Cave, avoiding wild Pokémon until they arrived at the bottom, where they had access to water. Using a Max Repel to avoid a water encounter, Zora had Grid swim them over to a waterfall, where they swam up the waterfall until they arrived at some grass. They got rid of the repel's effect and ran around the grass until they encountered a Ditto.

Zora tried for a Quick Ball first. It didn't even shake once before breaking free. The Ditto used Transform and turned into an Ampharos. Now it would be harder to catch, since Ditto, upon transformation, not only copied the target's move-set and stats, but also its capture rate.

"Use Thunder Wave, Bambi," Zora ordered.

The Ditto was paralyzed and couldn't do anything. Zora tried an Ultra Ball. It shook twice before breaking free and using Thunder Wave itself, paralyzing Bambi. Zora tried another Ultra Ball. It broke free without shaking and used ThunderPunch. Another Ultra Ball was thrown. No shaking, and it broke out. Another Ultra Ball was thrown. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture.

"Finally," Zora said and picked up the ball. "I will call you Faker."

With that taken care of, the team flew to Olivine City, where Zora decided to fish with her Good Rod. The only thing they could catch here were Corsola at day or Staryu at night. Since it was still day, Zora decided to opt for Corsola, as Staryu could be caught elsewhere. After throwing out five Magikarp and five Krabby, Zora reeled in a Corsola.

Zora tried with a Quick Ball first. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Corsola Korra, before the ball materialized away.

Although they already had caught a Poliwag, Zora decided to go to Blackthorn City again to catch another one, since they could only catch Magikarp and Poliwag there. Besides, Poliwag could evolve into either Poliwrath or Politoed, so it was fine.

After throwing out a Magikarp, Zora managed to fish up a Poliwag with her Good Rod. She tried with a Quick Ball first, and it captured immediately. She picked up the ball and named the female Poliwag Paris, before it materialized away.

Now all there was left was to get the Tyrogue from Mt. Mortar. Zora decided to put Crisper in the box to have a free slot in her party, and since she wouldn't need Rock Smash in Mt. Mortar at all. Fly Boy was kept on the team so they could fly away as soon as they got out of the cave with an Escape Rope.

Zora also decided to put Dingbat in the front so he was ready to fight the Karate King, once they arrived. She followed the map she had found online of Mt. Mortar, entering the mountain from the island in the middle of Route 42, climbing the waterfall by the lake in the cave, and then surfing across various patches of water until they arrived at the right ladder, taking them down to a bunch of hills they had to cross until they found the next right ladder.

They arrived on a bigger hill in a chamber, then went down a set of long stairs until they arrived at the bottom, where a black belt stood and trained against boulders, alongside his Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, as well as a small Tyrogue. It seemed the bigger Pokémon were helping the Tyrogue with its training. Zora approached them.

"Excuse me," Zora said, gaining their attention. "Are you Kiyo, the Karate King?"

"Hey!" Kiyo greeted. "I am the Karate King! I train alone here in the cave!"

Zora looked around at his Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, as well as the Tyrogue. "Alone, huh?" she muttered.

"You!" Kiyo exclaimed and pointed at Zora, getting her attention. "Battle with me! Hwaaarggh!"

Kiyo sent forth his Hitmonlee first. Zora gestured Dingbat to go forward. The Tyrogue stood back and watched the battle.

"Use Pluck!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat took out the Hitmonlee in a single hit. Kiyo withdrew the fainted Pokémon and sent forth his Hitmonchan instead, which knew Ice Punch and ThunderPunch. Zora took a deep breath.

"Use Pluck again, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat went first, but Pluck didn't take out the Hitmonchan completely. Zora cringed.

"Use Ice Punch!" Kiyo ordered.

Hitmonchan landed an Ice Punch and took Dingbat down to half his health. Zora sighed of relief. That was close.

"Take it out with Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat used Pluck and took out the Hitmonchan, winning the battle. He hit level thirty-nine and wanted to learn Poison Fang. Zora decided against it for now, as Poison was only good against Grass, and Poison Fang was weaker in power than Bite, even though it could badly poison the foe.

"Good job, Dingbat," Zora praised.

Kiyo withdrew his fainted Hitmonchan. "I… I'm crushed…" he said. "My training is still not enough… But a loss is a loss. I admit it." He looked down at his Tyrogue, staring at Zora and Dingbat with admiration. Kiyo cracked a smile. "As proof that you defeated me, I'll give you a rare Fighting-type Pokémon."

Tyrogue looked up at the Karate King with huge eyes and a big smile. He seemed inspired by Zora's victory. Kiyo handed over the Tyrogue's Poké Ball to Zora. The Tyrogue stepped forward and held his hands behind his back shyly.

"Hello, little guy," Zora greeted the Tyrogue. "From now on, your name shall be Trunks."

"Trunks," Trunks repeated. "I like it. I… hope I can be of use to you, master."

Zora turned back to the Karate King, trying to hide his sadness of having to depart with the young Tyrogue.

"Tyrogue is a Fighting type," Kiyo explained. "It evolves into a tougher Pokémon. Keep up the hard work. I'll keep training too. Farewell!"

Zora turned to Trunks and smiled. "Welcome to the team, Trunks," she said.

* * *

Having acquired all Pokémon currently available to her in the Johto Region, Zora had Fly Boy take the team to Cherrygrove City, where they would assemble their team for trekking to the Indigo Plateau, putting Crisper and Coco on the team, as well as keeping Grid until they reached their destination.

Before leaving for New Bark Town, Zora decided to give Bambi an HP Up, a Carbos and a Calcium to boost his stats a bit. Afterwards, they went through Route 29, avoiding all the tall grass until they arrived in New Bark Town. They walked past Zora's house and looked out at the water.

Zora looked down at Bambi beside her. "Ready?" she asked. "This is it. We're going to the Pokémon League.

Bambi gulped and nodded. "Let's go!" he said.

Taking a very deep breath and exhaling, Zora called out Grid, hopped onto him with Bambi, and then the team took off to Kanto. They swam for a bit before reaching land, where a man stood and approached them.

"Hey!" the man greeted. "Do you know what you just did? You've taken your first step into Kanto. Check your Pokégear Map and see."

Zora pulled out her Pokégear and checked the map function. They were on Route 27, located in nowhere else but Kanto. Zora felt her heart pounding and gulped.

"We have a new encounter here, Bambi," Zora informed. "Let's go find something."

They couldn't right away though, as they had to pass through the Tohjo Falls to get on the other side of Route 27, where the Trainers and wild Pokémon resided. They had another encounter in Tohjo Falls as well, however, so they entered. The only thing they could catch here was Goldeen, so they climbed the waterfall and got to the other side. They found a Moon Stone behind one of the waterfalls, and then they surfed around on the water until they encountered a Goldeen.

Zora threw one of her three last Quick Balls. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Grid picked up the ball with his tentacles and handed it over to Zora. She named the female Goldeen Queen before the ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center. With that, they left the cave.

As soon as they stepped outside, an Ace Trainer was waiting for them. Zora put Dingbat in the front before having her first Trainer battle in Kanto.

The Trainer had a Bulbasaur, an Ivysaur and a Venusaur. The Bulbasaur was taken out with one Pluck, but the Venusaur lived on very little health and used Sleep Powder, putting Dingbat to sleep. Zora used a Chesto Berry to wake up Dingbat. The Venusaur used Double-Edge, which Zora was worried about, but it barely did anything to Dingbat. All it did was knock itself out. Dingbat easily took out the Ivysaur with a single Pluck.

After beating the Trainer, Zora entered a house by the river, and an old lady gave her TM37 for Sandstorm for having very loyal Pokémon. Zora put Bambi in the front again, and they moved on, surfing through Route 27 until they found another piece of land with plenty of tall grass… and another Ace Trainer. Zora put Crisper in the front before facing this Trainer.

He had a Magneton, a Quagsire and an Exeggcute. Crisper took out the Magneton with Earthquake, Kale took care of the Quagsire with Magical Leaf, and Coco took out the Exeggcute with two Faint Attacks. Coco was not a hard hitter. He was a tank. Hopefully it wouldn't cause trouble for the team.

Zora decided to wait with her encounter until they had dealt with another Ace Trainer, owning a Mareep. It was taken out by one Earthquake by Crisper.

Zora put Bambi in the front again, and they moved on and found a Revive and a Destiny Knot in the grass before meeting a Psychic with a Starmie, an Exeggcute and a Girafarig. Zora decided to give Coco a Lum Berry to hold before the fight. Bambi got confused by the Starmie and punched himself in the face, but on the next turn he pulled himself together and took out the Starmie with a Thunderbolt. Coco took out the Girafarig with two Faint Attacks. The Exeggcute used Stun Spore on Coco, but then got paralyzed itself because of Coco's Synchronize ability, and then Coco ate the Lum Berry he was holding and got cured of paralysis. With two Faint Attacks, the Exeggcute was also taken down.

Zora gave her wounded Pokémon Sitrus Berries to eat and gave Coco another Lum Berry to hold just in case. They moved on and fought another Ace Trainer, who had a Growlithe, a Nidorina and a Staryu. Crisper was put in front before the battle started, and she took out the Growlithe with one Earthquake despite Intimidate. Bambi hit first with his Quick Claw and took out the Staryu with Thunderbolt. Crisper took out the Nidorina with a single Earthquake and reached level forty.

After declining giving the Trainer her number, Zora put Bambi back in the front and finally decided to get her encounter in Route 27. They walked through the grass, running from two Raticate, the second of which prevented them from escaping, so Zora put Dingbat in front instead, and then running from another Raticate until they ran into a Ponyta.

"Yes, another Fire-type!" Zora exclaimed. "I'll throw a Quick Ball."

The Quick Ball shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora only had two Quick Balls left, and two more areas before the Indigo League to catch something in; Route 26 for Doduo, and Victory Road for Ursaring or Rhyhorn. Zora picked up the Quick Ball and named the female Ponyta Firestar.

"I hope we get the ability to fly from the Reception Gate before entering Victory Road," Zora said as Bambi was put in the front again and they walked on. "Otherwise we will probably have a hard time catching something in Victory Road."

"I hope so too," Bambi replied. "Let's go!"

They moved on, entering Route 26 across a bridge and encountered a fisherman with two Qwilfish and a Seaking. Bambi took them all out with one Thunderbolt each.

They arrived at some tall grass, and Zora decided to get Dingbat out again in case they ran into a fast Raticate or Arbok. They got through the tall grass without encountering anything yet though, so before facing another psychic in battle, Zora put Coco in front to fight his Espeon, just one level lower than Coco. Its Swifts barely did anything, and Coco took it out with two Faint Attacks and reached level thirty-eight.

Zora switched back to Dingbat as they walked on through the tall grass. They got through without encountering anything and found a house where a nice lady allowed them to rest up for a bit and get healed. Afterwards Zora put Crisper in the front before facing another Ace Trainer, who had a Pikachu and a Blastoise. Crisper took out the Pikachu with Earthquake, and Kale took out the Blastoise with two Magical Leafs.

Zora walked on and saw an Ace Trainer up ahead. She was particularly worried about this Trainer, though was unsure if she even needed to be worried. She put Dingbat in the front before facing him.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Dingbat asked curiously.

"From what I've researched, this guy has a Kingler that knows Guillotine," Zora said. "If that's true, Kale or Bambi could be in lethal danger. However, one-hit-KO-moves normally don't work if the target is of a higher level than the user, and in this case, everyone here except Grid is of higher level."

"So why are you worried?" Dingbat asked.

"Because I'm unsure if that rule applies to… _them_ ," Zora said.

"Them?"

"Other Trainers. I don't know how to explain it."

"You mean those that don't have the Nuzlocke condition?"

"Sort of. I heard a rumor that someone in Hoenn had a Dusklops of a higher level than a Walrein owned by an Elite Four member, yet her Dusklops was hit by Sheer Cold and died instantly."

"Whoa! That does sound concerning! Let's hope Kale or Bambi can take out that Kingler in one hit and not get hit by Guillotine!"

"Yeah… that would be very ugly. Let's just get this over with."

Zora and Dingbat stepped forward, all tense, and faced the Ace Trainer. He led with Victreebel, which Dingbat easily took out with one Pluck, after which he reached level forty as well. He then sent in his Kingler, and Zora gulped as she sent out Bambi to take it on. It was level thirty-two, and Bambi was level forty-one. In theory, he should be alright…

"I hope the rule applies to us both…" she muttered. "Use Thunderbolt, Bambi!"

The Kingler used Protect and didn't get hurt. Zora was relieved, but it was still conscious.

"Try again!" Zora said. "Thunderbolt!"

The Kingler used Stomp, and Bambi flinched. Zora became more hopeful. If it wasn't going directly for Guillotine, perhaps it meant it wasn't going to use it at all.

"Another try! Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.

This time, Bambi's Quick Claw allowed him to move first, and his Thunderbolt took out the scary Kingler in a single hit. Zora felt a huge weight off her shoulders, and she sighed of relief. Bambi too seemed relieved, and he reached level forty-two.

"Hey, can I learn Signal Beam?" Bambi asked.

Zora hummed. "Not a bad move," she said. "But we need Thunderbolt, ThunderPunch and Thunder Wave. You can learn it later, once we have flight access to the League, and forget Strength. For now, you'll keep your moves."

"Okay," Bambi said, happy that he would at least have the ability to learn the move a little later.

Ace Trainer Gaven sent in his last Pokémon, a Flareon, which Crisper took out with Earthquake. Scary Gaven was beat, and Zora took his money and refused to exchange numbers with him. They walked off a bit to recover from the battle.

"Good job, Bambi," Zora said and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're still alive. I don't know what I would do without you."

"I'm glad to be alive too," Bambi said.

They moved on, with Dingbat still in the front as they faced another Ace Trainer, who had a Parasect, a Golduck and a Vaporeon. Dingbat took out the Parasect with one Pluck, and Bambi took out the Golduck with one Thunderbolt and the Vaporeon with a single ThunderPunch.

They moved on and found the last Trainer on Route 26 before the Reception Gate, another Ace Trainer, who had a Rapidash and a Flaaffy. Zora put Crisper in the front and took out both with Earthquake. The Trainer also mentioned losing to a red-haired boy not long ago. It sounded as if Silver had reached this place too. Zora didn't want the Trainer's number.

With all the Trainers on Route 26 beaten, Zora put Dingbat in the front again and travelled through the tall grass until they encountered a Doduo. Zora threw her last Quick Ball at it. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball and named the female Doduo Liz and Ria, Liz being their left head and Ria being their right head. If she ever evolved into Dodrio, Zora would name the middle head Mi.

With the encounter out of the way, Zora put Kale in the front this time as they went to the Reception Gate, separating Route 26 from Kanto, Mt. Silver and Victory Road. Zora looked up at her Meganium with a smile.

"This is it, partner," Zora said.

"The endgame," Kale said. "We finally made it."

"We still have to go through Victory Road though. Let's go."

* * *

They entered the Reception Gate and were stopped by a guard.

"Only Trainers who have proven themselves may pass," he said, and Zora showed him her Badge case. "Oh! The eight Badges of Johto! Please, go right on through!"

Zora walked forward, past two guards, each guarding the east and west entrance, one going to Mt. Silver and the other going to Kanto. Zora and Kale walked onward to the north, where Victory Road was. Zora got out her map for the area, so she knew where to go.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to train here while we go through," Zora said. "Rather than avoiding the encounters with a repel like we usually do. We don't have that many repels left anyway. I hope we get a Rhyhorn, but it's more like we'll get an Ursaring."

"Shouldn't Bambi be in the front for this?" Kale asked. "To paralyze our encounter?"

"If it's a Rhyhorn, he can't do that," Zora said. "But you can poison it and weaken it with Headbutt. I think we'll be fine."

They stepped through the entrance and entered Victory Road. Bambi used Strength to move a boulder aside, and they walked through until they encountered a Graveler. Rather than running from it, Kale took it out with Magical Leaf. They moved on and found a regular Potion on the ground.

"Who has a weak Potion in this place?" Zora speculated.

They moved on and found a Full Heal on a hill, after which they encountered an Ursaring.

"Whoa, big bear!" Zora commented. "Alright, Kale, use PoisonPowder!"

Kale's attack missed, and the Ursaring used Sweet Scent. Another PoisonPowder hit though. The Ursaring used Faint Attack but didn't do much damage.

"Use Cut," Zora said. "Just weaken it a bit, don't knock it out."

The Cut didn't do much damage. The Ursaring was hurt by poison, and Zora decided to try a Dusk Ball. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora happily picked up the ball and named the female Ursaring Ursula.

"That went excellently," Zora said and used the weak Potion to heal up Kale. "Let's move on. From now on, we're training until we reach the Indigo Plateau."

"Alright!" Kale said. "Let's move on!"

They went through Victory Road, Kale taking out five Graveler, three Onix, one Ursaring, two Geodude and two Rhyhorn, while Bambi took out eight Golbat, which Kale also got experience for. As they went through the cave, across the bridges, up and down ladders and jumping down holes, Zora had a bad feeling.

"Why aren't there any Trainers around?" Zora speculated. "There's supposed to be lots of tough Trainers around here."

"Maybe they all had to go heal up their Pokémon?" Kale theorized.

"At the same time?" Zora pointed out. "But regardless of the reason, it makes it easier for us to get through this place. We should almost be there."

They also picked up a lot of items, including another Full Heal, a Max Potion, two Max Revives, a Hyper Potion, a Full Restore, a Zinc, two Ultra Balls, an HP Up, a PP Up, a Rare Candy, the TM for Earthquake and the TM for Dark Pulse.

They could see the exit, and they moved forward… but then Zora stopped and healed up her team with Sitrus Berries and Leppa Berries, having a bad feeling about this place. She put Dingbat in the front of the team.

Just ten steps from the exit, Zora heard footsteps from behind and turned around. It was Silver, and he approached them.

"Hold it," Silver said. "…Are you going to challenge the Pokémon League? Victory Road is at its end, for sure. But did you notice…? You didn't see any real Trainers on the way, did you? Man, they were all spineless!"

Zora stared at him. He must have beaten all the Trainers in Victory Road, thus explaining why there was no one else here but them. Good thing she healed up. He certainly seemed ready to battle.

"Well, the fact that you have come this far means you're not one of them," Silver continued. "But! Your journey ends here! Because… right here, right now… I will crush you!"

"Bring it on!" Zora said.

Silver sent out his Sneasel, and Zora sent forth Dingbat. This was a hard one, as she didn't have any Pokémon on her team that both resisted its attacks _and_ knew super-effective moves. But she had a plan.

"Use U-Turn, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat went forth and hit the Sneasel hard. He went back to Zora, and Zora sent out Coco instead. The Sneasel fainted immediately, and Silver withdrew it. He sent out his Magneton, so Zora withdrew Coco and sent out Crisper to face it instead.

"Use Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Use Magnet Bomb!" Silver ordered.

The Magnet Bomb barely did anything, but Crisper took out the Magneton in one hit with Earthquake. Silver withdrew his Magneton and sent out his Haunter instead, at which Zora decided to send in Dingbat again to face it.

"Use Bite, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat chomped onto the Haunter and knocked it out in one hit. Silver withdrew his Haunter and sent out his Kadabra instead. Zora kept Dingbat in to face it.

"Use U-Turn again, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat hit the Kadabra hard with U-Turn and went back to Zora again, and Zora sent out Crisper to handle his last two Pokémon. Kadabra immediately fainted, and Silver withdrew it. Next he sent out his Typhlosion, having finally fully evolved his Starter.

"Use Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Use Lava Plume!" Silver ordered.

Typhlosion was faster and brought Crisper down to below half her max health, worrying Zora a bit. When Silver sent out his last Pokémon, his Golbat, Zora decided to let Bambi handle it instead.

"I see," Silver said. "It seems it wasn't just luck that's gotten you this far."

"No, it's also skill and care for my Pokémon!" Zora said. "Bambi, use Thunderbolt!"

"Use Bite!" Silver ordered.

The Golbat bit Bambi and got paralyzed. In the next moment, Bambi fired his Thunderbolt and took out the Golbat in one hit. Silver withdrew his defeated Pokémon.

"…I couldn't win…" Silver said. "I gave it everything I had… What you possess and what I lack, I'm beginning to understand what that Dragon Tamer said to me…"

Zora praised Bambi for a job well done and returned him to his Poké Ball, having only Dingbat out now. They both looked at Silver, as he fell silent for a moment.

"…I haven't given up on becoming the greatest Trainer…" Silver said. "I'm going to find out why I can't win and become stronger… When I do, I will challenge you. I'll beat you down with all my power."

"And I'm going to beat you down harder," Zora said. "I'll never let you win against me."

Silver hummed. "…Humph! You keep at it until then."

With that, Silver left and returned to deeper in the Victory Road, perhaps to keep training. Zora turned to the exit.

And arrived at the Indigo Plateau.

The endgame was drawing near.

And she would get through without losing anyone.

…Perhaps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very nervous about that Kingler. Jaiden Animations said on her Ruby Nuzlocke video that her Dusclops, Sin, was killed by Sheer Cold by Glacia's Walrein, then explained how "[...] and will fail if the target's level is higher than the user's, but even under all those conditions, it hit, and Sin was killed." As if Sin was higher level than Glacia's Walrein. That's why I got nervous.  
> It would be TOTALLY UNFAIR if NPCs' Pokémon can use OH-KO moves on your Pokémon despite yours being higher level than theirs, and you CAN'T do that to THEM!  
> But maybe the rule applies both ways, who knows...  
> Regardless, everyone's still alive, and we've made it to the Pokémon League! Holy crap!  
> Tomorrow, I will train my team to, like, level 48 before challenging the Elite Four, as Lance's Dragonite is level 50, and from what I've seen of others playing, they don't give that much EXP, so I think 48 is fine for entering and not getting over-leveled...  
> Even so, I do have some Rare Candies I can use if it becomes necessary before Lance's battle.  
> I have a plan here for how to take on the League with the team I have: https://www.deviantart.com/zorathetwilightdrake/art/My-Plan-for-the-Indigo-League-865299056?ga_submit_new=10%3A1609110425  
> EDIT: OOPS I forgot to turn the numbers into letters of Pokémon I defeated in Victory Road, ugh, fixed it now though.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 8  
> Live Pokémon: 61  
> Death counter: 0


	32. Indigo Plateau

Zora walked with her entire team out as they walked along the path to the Pokémon League building, lined up by trees, Poké Ball statues and arches, as well as two sets of stairs between the building and Victory Road.

"This is it," Zora said and gazed around at her team. "The Indigo Plateau. Let's go in and heal up, then we'll start out final training."

"Yes!" everyone said in unison.

They all took a deep breath before walking into the building together. There was a small Pokémon Center to the left, a Poké Mart to the right, as well as a set of stairs leading to a lower room, probably having a cafeteria, rooms to sleep in and other commendations to allow Trainers to rest up before trying their luck against the Elite Four. Zora went to the Pokémon Center and healed up her team before depositing Grid the Tentacool in the box and withdrawing Fly Boy the Pidgeotto.

Before taking off to train, they decided to go downstairs and found a cafeteria where they could have lunch and rest for a bit. Zora ate a sandwich, and her Pokémon were given berries and some delicious food pellets. Afterwards, Zora decided to give Coco the HP Up, and Crisper the Zinc they found in Victory Road. She would wait with buying potions until it was time to challenge the League.

Zora got Fly Boy to fly them to Violet City first, where they went to Sprout Tower and fought Rattata to increase the team's speed a bit. Kale took down seven Rattata, Bambi took out four Rattata, and Dingbat, Crisper took out two Rattata, and Coco took out thirteen Rattata.

Afterwards, Zora took the team to Goldenrod City, where they went north to Route 35 to fight wild Psyduck for special attack training. Kale and Bambi defeated two Psyduck each, and Dingbat and Coco defeated three Psyduck each.

Once that was done, Zora took the team to Ecruteak City, where they went to Route 42 and fought Goldeen for physical attack training. Kale and Coco both defeated three Goldeen, and Bambi and Crisper each defeated one Goldeen.

After that, Zora took the team to Azalea Town and entered Union Cave, where they fought wild Geodude for physical defense training. Kale and Bambi defeated three Geodude each, and Crisper defeated two Geodude. They met no Onix during the training.

After that, it had turned evening, so Zora took the team back to Goldenrod City and entered the National Park, where they trained against wild Hoothoot to increase their health. Kale took out one Hoothoot, and Dingbat, Crisper took out three Hoothoot, and Coco took out twenty-nine Hoothoot.

Afterwards, Zora decided to take the team to Olivine City and train the team's special defense against Tentacool and Tentacruel, which they needed the most out of all the effort values remaining. Kale defeated a total of sixty-nine Tentacool and four Tentacruel before his effort values had been maxed out. Bambi defeated four Tentacool before Zora got an idea.

Zora decided to go to the Safari Zone Gate and buy eight Zincs – after defeating sixteen Krabby and three Shuckle with Pay Day by Cash, holding the Amulet Coin, in Cianwood City, as well as finding a Blue Shard, a Green Shard, a Red Shard, a Yellow Shard, a Max Ether and a Revive – and give five of them to Crisper and three to Bambi.

With that done, Bambi took out a total of another ninety-nine Tentacool and fifteen Tentacruel before his effort values also were maxed out. Dingbat took down a total of eighty-eight Tentacool and ten Tentacruel before his own effort values were maxed out. Coco got experience from sixty-four Tentacool and six Tentacruel via the Exp. Share before his effort values were maxed out too. Crisper got experience from one hundred and twenty-four Tentacool and seventeen Tentacruel, also via the Exp. Share, before her special defense was maxed out, but her effort values were not maxed out yet.

As such, Zora decided to return to Goldenrod City and train Crisper against wild Hoothoot to further increase her max health. Crisper ended up defeating a total of fifty-two Hoothoot before her effort values were maxed out.

Now that the team's effort values had been maxed out, Zora took them to Blackthorn City, gave each of them an Effort Ribbon, deleted Strength from Bambi and Rock Smash from Crisper, and then she taught Bambi Signal Beam. Crisper learned Double-Edge, which she wouldn't take recoil damage from, since she had the ability Rock Head, so Zora wanted her to know that for the Elite Four instead of the weak Rock Smash. She also removed Cut from Kale and taught him Razor Leaf again.

For a while, Zora was distressed as her notes on her team's effort values on Kale and Coco were messed up, but she eventually got them maxed out, and they both got the Effort Ribbon as well. She just didn't know what went wrong or which stats of theirs were wrong now. She supposed it didn't matter much. As annoying as it was, it was time to move on.

As such, Zora took the team back to Victory Road, where they continued training until every member of her team was level forty-eight. Coco was given the Exp. Share to hold while the others trained. Kale defeated three Graveler, an Onix and three Ursaring before reaching level forty-eight.

Crisper took out eleven Graveler, six Onix, one Rhyhorn, seven Ursaring and nine Golbat before she too reached level forty-eight. Goofy had rejoined the team and defeated a total of thirty Graveler, twenty-five Onix, four Rhyhorn, thirty-three Ursaring and forty-one Golbat before also reaching level forty-eight. At one point, a Graveler crit-exploded and almost killed Goofy from full health, but he hung in there with eighteen HP remaining. During Goofy's training, Coco reached level forty-eight, so Zora put the Exp. Share on Dingbat afterwards and continued training.

Since Bambi and Dingbat didn't do well against these things, Zora decided to train them outside Victory Road, at the water. She grabbed Fly Boy from the box and put Crisper in, so they could get instantly there and go instantly back to the League building again.

Bambi defeated eighteen Tentacool and one Tentacruel before Dingbat reached level forty-eight. After Zora took off the Exp. Share from the Crobat again, Bambi got all the experience from then on for himself, and he finally reached level forty-eight after defeating an additional eleven Tentacool.

The whole team was now trained up and ready for the Indigo League. Well, almost.

The team flew back to the Indigo Plateau, healed up, and then Zora put Fly Boy back in the box and brought out Crisper again, assembling the team to be used against the Elite Four. They went downstairs and ate dinner before going to one of the dorms made especially for travelling Trainers preparing to challenge the League. Before going to sleep, however, Zora brought out her notes and started talking strategy with her team, perhaps for the last time.

"It happens tomorrow," Zora informed. "Tomorrow is the day we challenge the Elite Four. Tomorrow, we lift the curse. To make sure no one dies, I have made a plan. I came up with it while we were training, and I think it will work out."

"Let's hear it," Kale encouraged while sitting on the floor with his front legs between his hind legs, sort of like a dog.

Zora brought out a larger piece of paper, almost like a map, and folded it out on the floor.

"So we have five Trainers in total to beat," Zora began. "The four Trainers known as the Elite Four, and the Champion. Each member of the Elite Four has five Pokémon, and the Champion has six Pokémon in total. The first member is called Will, and he specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. For Will, we will be using Bambi and Coco."

Bambi and Coco glanced at each other and back at Zora.

"Will has two Xatu, one stronger than the other and his ace, as well as a Jynx, an Exeggcutor and a Slowbro," Zora explained. "For the two Xatu and one Slowbro, Bambi will take care of them with Thunderbolt. None of them know any moves that will be super-effective against Bambi, although they all know Psychic, which may do quite some damage. Bambi should have high enough special defense from all the training to withstand them though."

Bambi nodded, acknowledging his role.

"As for Coco, he will be unaffected by any Psychic-type moves Will's team may use against him, since he is Dark-type," Zora continued. "The only moves Jynx can use against him are Ice Punch and Doubleslap, while the Exeggcutor can only use Egg Bomb. And because Coco's defenses are superb, he should be able to take those hits without a problem. Coco will just use Faint Attack until they faint. The only things they can really do to annoy us are Hypnosis and Lovely Kiss to put him to sleep, but I have something to counter that."

Zora pulled out four Lum Berries from her bag. "I will give each one of you a Lum Berry to hold, so if you get afflicted by any status conditions, you will immediately be healed, so we don't have to lose a turn to heal," Zora explained and handed out a Lum Berry to Crisper, Kale, Coco and Dingbat. "And whenever we finish a battle, I will give you new Lum Berries in case you ate yours during the last battle."

"Why don't I and Goofy get a berry?" Bambi asked confused. Goofy cocked his head in question.

"You do much better with your Quick Claw, Bambi," Zora explained. "If you can hit first, status problems shouldn't be a problem for you. If you do get hit by one though, I will heal you up. As for Goofy, he can't get confused because of his ability, Own Tempo, so at least we don't have to worry about that. We do need him to hold the NeverMeltIce though, to boost his Ice Beam, because we will need for him to take down our opponents in one hit, or at least below half their health."

Bambi hummed in understanding. Goofy yawned, probably meant as understanding as well.

"Next, we've got Koga, who specializes in Poison- and Bug-type Pokémon," Zora continued. "He used to be the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City in the Kanto region, but apparently he decided to become a member of the Elite Four now. His daughter has taken over the role as Gym Leader in Fuchsia City."

"What Pokémon does Koga have?" Crisper asked, to avoid Zora getting side-tracked.

"Right," Zora said. "Koga has an Ariados, a Venomoth, a Crobat, a Muk and a Forretress. For this fight, I want to use Dingbat, Crisper, Goofy and Bambi. Dingbat will take out his Ariados with Pluck, as it doesn't have any effective moves against him, its only attacking moves being Giga Drain and Poison Jab, both of which he resists. Crisper will take out the Venomoth with Rock Throw, as it knows Psychic and could thus hurt Dingbat, but it doesn't have anything good against Crisper. The only dangerous move it has is Toxic, which would badly poison Crisper, but again, that's what the Lum Berry is for."

"Got'cha," Crisper said.

"Leave it to me!" Dingbat said.

"Furthermore, Crisper will have to take care of the Forretress with Flamethrower," Zora said. "This is the reason why I taught you that move, Crisper. Forretress is only weak to Fire, which it is four times weak to as well. Furthermore, it knows Explosion, which I believe only you will be able to tank, with your great physical defense and resistance as a Rock-type."

"Will it go down with one Flamethrower though?" Crisper asked skeptically. "I'm not exactly a special attacker, you know."

"I know," Zora said. "But while Forretress has great physical defense, it has bad special defense, and with its huge weakness to Fire, you should be able to take it out in one hit. Understood?"

Crisper nodded in understanding. "I'll take care of it," she said.

"Good," Zora said and turned to Bambi and Goofy. "Now, Goofy will take care of the Muk, preferably with Zen Headbutt. Whenever we're entering a fight against something that isn't weak to Ice, I think Goofy should actually hold the Zoom Lens, which boosts his accuracy if he moves after the opponent, which he certainly will, since he's so slow. Muk should be faster than him, and as such, Zen Headbutt should be certain to hit. So… for now, Goofy should actually hold the Zoom Lens."

Zora took out the Zoom Lens she had and gave it to Goofy, taking the NeverMeltIce from him. Goofy looked down at the Zoom Lens and nodded in understanding.

"And finally, Bambi will take care of the Crobat with Thunderbolt," Zora continued. "The Quick Claw might allow him to move first and take it out immediately, but if not, it doesn't have anything that would be dangerous to him. The biggest danger here is the Venomoth with Psychic, as Crisper's special defense isn't that good, but if she can out-speed it, it should go down with one Rock Throw. Koga shouldn't be a difficult fight."

The team nodded in understanding, accepting each of their roles.

"Next up, we have Bruno, who specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon," Zora continued. "He is the only remaining member of the original Elite Four from three years ago, before there was an official Champion. Now, Bruno has a Hitmonchan, a Hitmonlee, a Hitmontop, a Machamp and an Onix."

"Onix?" Dingbat remarked. "But that's not a Fighting-type, that's a Rock- and Ground-type, isn't it?"

"Yes," Zora replied. "I think it's weird too, but for some reason, he has it. Now, Dingbat should be able to take out his entire team with Pluck except for the Onix. Goofy will have to take care of that with Surf. Actually, Goofy should also take care of the Machamp with Zen Headbutt, since his Machamp has Rock Slide, which will be very bad if Dingbat can't take it out in one hit. And Machamp have pretty good physical defenses. Furthermore, Machamp has Revenge, which will double the damage it takes before it is launched, so Zen Headbutt will have to take it out in one hit. This could be pretty dangerous, and this is where I am worried. If Goofy doesn't take it out in one hit, and the Machamp uses Revenge, Goofy could potentially die."

Goofy cocked his head and yawned. It was uncertain whether he was concerned or not, considering this was what he always did. Zora decided to ignore it and moved on.

"Now, as for the three Hitmons," Zora said, "Hitmonchan knows ThunderPunch and Ice Punch, like the previous ones we have battled. Dingbat should be able to take it out in one hit though, as its physical defense is not that good, and hopefully Dingbat will be able to take a hit if it does land either of those punches, since it doesn't get extra damage from typing. Not to mention that Dingbat did take an Ice Punch from the Karate King's Hitmonchan, and at that time, both were close to the same level. He should be able to take another from this one."

"Hopefully," Dingbat said.

"Other than the Hitmonchan, the Hitmontop also knows Counter, so if that doesn't get taken out with one Pluck, it could also potentially kill Dingbat," Zora said. "You need to hit it really hard. Can I count on you for that?"

"Sure thing," Dingbat said. "I'll hit that top so hard, it won't know what hit it!"

Zora nodded in satisfaction. "The last member of the Elite Four is Karen," Zora continued. "She specializes in Dark- and Poison-type Pokémon. She has an Umbreon, a Murkrow, a Vileplume, a Gengar and a Houndoom. For this fight, I want to use everyone except Coco, since he won't be much good against his own type, and Gengar knows Focus Blast, which could be bad. For Karen's own Umbreon, I believe I want to lead with Dingbat, use U-Turn and then switch to Kale, who will hit it hard until it faints. It probably won't do much damage, but it will take a while to take down because of its defenses and health."

"Got it," Kale said, happy he would be of use again in battle. "I'll handle the Umbreon."

"Now, Dingbat will take out the Vileplume with Pluck, which shouldn't be a problem at all," Zora continued. "Bambi will take out the Murkrow, which also shouldn't be a problem. Crisper will take out the Houndoom with Earthquake. It knows Dark Pulse and has good special attack, so that could be dangerous for Crisper though, but its defenses are bad, so hopefully Crisper should be able to out-speed it, or it should use a different attack, and one Earthquake should take it down. This is really about chance."

Crisper nodded in understanding. "I will hit it as hard as I can and as fast as I can," Crisper promised.

"Good," Zora said. "Other than the Houndoom, Gengar is also a danger, since it knows Destiny Bond. If it hits any of you with it and you then knock it out with an attack afterwards, you will die as well."

The Pokémon looked worried at each other.

"But fortunately, we have a way to prevent this," Zora said. "We will use Goofy against the Gengar, since it is weak to Psychic. Its only Ghost-type attacking move is Lick, which is super weak. It also does not know Mean Look, so if we need to use status moves, that won't be a problem either. For Destiny Bond, however, we will have to use Disable, so it won't use it again. Afterwards, it will use a move first, since it is faster than Goofy, and as such, the Destiny Bond will be broken, and Goofy should be able to take it out with one Zen Headbutt. Houndoom is really the biggest threat in this battle."

"Now I understand why you taught him Disable," Crisper said. "Genius."

Zora smiled and nodded. "Finally, we have the Champion," she continued. "The Champion in question is Lance, who we have met before. He specializes in Dragon- and Flying-type Pokémon. For this battle, everyone perhaps with the exception of Kale will participate. He has a Gyarados, a Charizard, an Aerodactyl and three Dragonite, two weak ones and a strong one."

The team looked surprised. " _Three_ Dragonite?!" Coco repeated in shock.

"That seems a bit like overkill," Dingbat commented.

"I only saw _one_ Dragonite when we were with him," Crisper said. "And he has two more?!"

"What do we do?" Bambi asked concerned. "He's really strong, isn't he? How do we fight him?"

"That's what I'm getting to now," Zora said. "He will be the toughest Trainer we have ever faced, and everyone has to be alive for this battle. Now, Bambi will take care of his Gyarados and Aerodactyl with Thunderbolt, which shouldn't be a problem. Crisper will take care of the Charizard with Rock Throw, as it's four times weak to Rock, and Crisper does extra damage because of her Rock typing."

"And what about the Dragonite?" Kale asked.

"Right, the Dragonite," Zora said. "All three Dragonite have Hyper Beam, which could do a lot of damage, but it also forces them to rest on the next turn, which would be our chance to strike at them. The two weaker Dragonite also have Dragon Rush and Thunder Wave, the former of which could do serious damage, as Dragonite have high base attack, and they get extra damage from their Dragon typing. Furthermore, one of the Dragonite has Thunder while the other has Blizzard."

The team looked around in concern. "That doesn't sound good," Crisper said.

"That's right, it's not good," Zora said. "But I've worked out a strategy for this. When Lance sends in one of his Dragonite, I will send in Dingbat to bait a Blizzard or Thunder. He will immediately use U-Turn, as Dragonite are slower than Crobat, and then he will return to his Poké Ball, and I will send out Coco to tank the hit. If the Dragonite uses Thunder, I will send in Crisper afterwards to take it out with Rock Throw, as she is immune to Electric. If it uses Blizzard, I will send in Goofy to take it out with Ice Beam. For this, he will have to hold the NeverMeltIce before the battle begins."

"What if it's the strong Dragonite?" Bambi asked concerned. "What does it know?"

"The strong Dragonite is his ace and at level fifty," Zora explained. "Other than Hyper Beam, it knows Outrage, Safeguard and Fire Blast. If it's the strong one, I will immediately send in Goofy to tank a hit. Goofy will have to use Ice Beam and take it out as quickly as possible, and hopefully be able to take any of its special or physical attacks. Outrage is really strong, but it will lock it in the move for two to three turns, and then the Dragonite will become confused. We may have to stall it with potions before we can take it out completely."

The Pokémon looked around at each other and nodded in understanding.

"So that's it?" Crisper asked. "That's the Pokémon League?"

"Yep, that's it," Zora said. "That's my plan for taking out the Indigo League with all of you. I will go over this plan again tomorrow morning, before we get started, but I just wanted to let you know now so you know what to expect tomorrow. We need a long night's rest and a healthy breakfast in the morning before we start. We should go to sleep right away."

Everyone nodded and went to certain spots in the dorm, while Zora lay in one of the beds with Bambi curled up beside her. Coco also jumped onto the bed and laid down beside Bambi and Zora.

"I wish you all luck tomorrow," Zora said quietly, before the sleep settled in. "Do your best, everyone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided not to start the Elite Four battle right away in this chapter, since it already got pretty long with dialogue and training and stuff.  
> The next chapter might become short, but it will be the defining chapter...  
> Will Zora/I be able to beat the Indigo League without losing a single Pokémon?  
> Find out tomorrow...
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 8  
> Live Pokémon: 61  
> Death counter: 0


	33. The Elite Four

The next morning, by sunrise, Zora woke up first, but allowed her Pokémon to sleep a bit longer, to make sure they were fully rested. While waiting for them to wake up, she looked through her notes, both in her notebook, in her Pokégear and on the map she drew of the Elite Four and her own Pokémon. As she looked through her notes, an idea popped into her mind, and she started scribbling down.

About an hour after she woke up, her Pokémon began waking up one by one. They said good morning to each other and to Zora, who was still adjusting her notes and looking them through.

"What's up?" Kale asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, quite the opposite," Zora said. "I just had an idea of how to tackle Karen's Houndoom. Instead of sending Crisper right in, I will send in Coco to take a few hits and spam Sand-Attack to lower its accuracy. Then, I will send in Bambi to paralyze it, and then I will send in Dingbat to confuse it, followed by U-Turn to do a little damage before sending in Crisper to take it out with Earthquake."

"Seems a bit complicated for one Houndoom," Crisper commented as she also rose from her sleep.

"I don't want you to die, Crisper," Zora said. "And you could very well, if that Houndoom lands a critical hit Dark Pulse. I don't want to risk it. I need everyone to be alive when we face Lance."

"Okay then," Crisper said. "I don't mind you watching our backs. As long as you know what you're doing, I'll do whatever you ask of me."

"I've got things under control," Zora assured. "When it comes to the Elite Four, I think we're pretty safe. It's Lance I'm worried about. Things could go wrong with him, very wrong, even."

"We'll take care of it, Zora," Kale said. "Well, the others will. I'm sure they can handle it. Right, guys?"

"Yep!" Coco replied.

"We can handle it!" Dingbat said.

"You can count on us, Zora!" Bambi said.

Goofy yawned and nodded, probably also meant to be a promise to do his best.

Zora looked around at her Pokémon and smiled. "I'm so lucky to have you guys," she said. "I hope I will still have you all after the fight. I keep imagining either of you dying… and it makes me scared. But I won't let you die. I'll never let you die, I promise!"

"Well, let's get ready for the League, then!" Kale said.

They got up, Zora dressed up, and they went to the cafeteria to eat some breakfast. Zora ate oatmeal while her Pokémon got berries and food pellets. After breakfast, they went to the lounge upstairs and went through the plan and strategies again. Zora made sure everyone was holding their designated items, and she bought the medicine at the Poké Mart she believed they would need for the fight.

"We have eight Moomoo Milk, twenty Hyper Potions, eleven Max Potions, twenty Full Restores, seven Full Heals, eight Rare Candies, several status healers, sixty-two Leppa Berries to restore power points, thirty-one Lum Berries to also heal status conditions, thirty-eight Sitrus Berries to heal minor injuries, fourteen Oran Berries to heal very small scratches, and several status healing berries. Bambi is holding a Quick Claw, Goofy is holding a Zoom Lens, everyone else is holding a Lum Berry, and in the bag we have a NeverMeltIce, Wide Lens, Miracle Seed, Shell Bell, Choice Specs, Silk Scarf, Metronome, Power Herb, Lagging Tail and Black Belt for effects or boosting stats in battle. I think we're ready."

The Pokémon looked around at each other, some seeming nervous, some gulping. Zora felt nervous too. This would be the most dangerous battles the team had faced yet. They had trained, they had the items, they had the types, and they had the moves. They were prepared.

Zora knew they were ready, but she was still concerned. Anything could go wrong, and one or more of her Pokémon could end up dying a ridiculous death that shouldn't have happened. She had pictured every single one of these deaths and scenarios in her head last night, and she had had a hard time going to sleep. She had not slept for many hours, but she didn't feel tired. She couldn't afford to feel tired now.

Later, when all of this was over. When the curse would finally be lifted.

No matter what sacrifices might have to be made.

Zora took a deep breath and exhaled. She looked at all her Pokémon, gaining their attention.

"It's time," Zora announced and drew their Poké Balls. "Let's go fight the Elite Four. I'll see you on the other side."

Zora withdrew every single one of her Pokémon, leaving only Bambi outside, as he would be the first one to enter the first battle. Bambi gulped and looked up at Zora.

"Let's do this," he said nervously. "All or nothing."

"All or nothing," Zora repeated. "Let's go."

* * *

Zora and Bambi walked up the stairs and hesitated before speaking to the guard blocking the entrance to the Elite Four.

"Once you enter this door, you will be facing one of the Elite Four," he warned. "They are really tough! You cannot exit once you enter. Are you ready? Be courageous and go for it!"

The guard stepped aside, allowing Zora and Bambi entry. Zora and Bambi gulped, taking another deep breath before stepping through the doorway.

They stepped into a room with bright lavender floor tiles and bottomless depths beneath the floor. Holographic cubes flew around the room, perhaps to emphasize that this Elite Four member was Psychic. Zora took another deep breath, which didn't make her feel better, and stepped forward to face the first member of the Elite Four. He spread out his arms and smiled.

"Welcome to the Pokémon League!" he said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Will. I have trained all around the world, making my Psychic-type Pokémon powerful. And, at last, I've been accepted into the Elite Four. I can only keep getting better! Losing is not an option!"

Will drew his first Poké Ball, sending out his first, weaker Xatu. Zora looked down at Bambi, and they both nodded. Bambi stepped forward.

"Bambi, use Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.

Bambi's Quick Claw allowed him to go first. The Thunderbolt took out the Xatu in a single hit. One down, four to go. Will sent in his Jynx next, which prompted Zora to send in Coco as planned.

"Use Faint Attack, Coco!" Zora ordered.

"Use Ice Punch!" Will ordered.

Jynx landed the Ice Punch, but didn't do much damage. However, the attack managed to freeze Coco solid. Thankfully, the Lum Berry he was holding allowed him to thaw out immediately. When Coco landed his Faint Attack, it landed a critical hit and took out the Jynx in one hit as well. Two down, three to go.

Will sent in his Exeggcutor next, and Zora decided to keep Coco in, despite the Lum Berry having been used earlier than expected. Coco could still handle this.

"Use Faint Attack again, Coco!" Zora ordered.

"Use Hypnosis!" Will ordered.

Coco hit first but only took the Exeggcutor to half its health. The Exeggcutor landed its Hypnosis and put Coco to sleep. Zora immediately used an Awakening to wake him up.

"Use Egg Bomb!" Will ordered.

The Egg Bomb barely did anything.

"Another Faint Attack, Coco!" Zora ordered.

Coco out-sped the Exeggcutor again and almost took it out, but not quite.

"Use Hypnosis!" Will ordered.

The Exeggcutor missed its Hypnosis, thankfully. Will decided to heal it up with a Full Restore.

"Hit it again with Faint Attack!" Zora ordered.

The Faint Attack took it to almost half its health.

"Again!" Zora ordered.

The Faint Attack took it again almost out, but not completely.

"Use Reflect!" Will ordered.

The Exeggcutor boosted its team's defense with Reflect.

"Take it out!" Zora said. "Faint Attack!"

With the next Faint Attack, the Exeggcutor was taken out. Two Pokémon left. Will sent out his Slowbro, prompting Zora to send Bambi back in the fight.

"Use Thunderbolt, Bambi!" Zora ordered.

The Slowbro was taken out in a single hit, and Will only had one Pokémon left; his strong Xatu. Zora kept Bambi in to finish the battle. Will sent out his Xatu and struck a pose.

"We Psychics don't give up so easily, even when we're down to our last Pokémon!" Will said. "That's what makes us so formidable!"

"Sure thing," Zora said. "Bambi, Thunderbolt!"

"Confuse Ray!" Will said.

Xatu confused Bambi, but Bambi broke through the confusion and took out the Psychic bird in one hit.

"I… I can't believe it…" Will said in surprise.

Zora smiled happily. "Great job, Bambi, Coco," she praised. The first member of the Elite Four had been beaten. Three to go.

Will withdrew his fainted Pokémon and smiled. "Even though I was defeated, I won't change my course," he said. "I will continue battling until I stand above all Trainers! Now move on and experience the true ferocity of the Elite Four."

With that, the next door opened, allowing Zora access to the next room and the second Elite Four member. Before entering, Zora healed up Coco and Bambi, refilling their moves as well, using two Leppa Berries and a single Sitrus Berry. Afterwards, Zora put Dingbat in front and gave Coco a new Lum Berry to hold onto. Then she entered the next room.

The door closed behind them, and they found themselves in a room with lavender boulder tiles and grass growing from the floor here and there. There were some plants in the open ceiling as well, making shadows on the floor. In the middle of the room stood a middle-aged man in a black ninja uniform and wearing a red scarf. This was the second member of the Elite Four. Zora stepped forward and faced him.

"Fwahahahaha!" he laughed. "I am Koga of the Elite Four. I live in shadows – a ninja! My intricate style will confound and destroy you! Confusion, sleep, poison… Prepare to be the victim of my sinister techniques! Fwahahahaha! Pokémon are not merely about brute force – you shall see soon enough!"

Koga drew his first Poké Ball and sent out his Ariados. Zora gestured for Dingbat to move forward.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat's Pluck almost took out the Ariados, but not completely.

"Use Spider Web!" Koga ordered.

Ariados shot a web at Dingbat and prevented him from escaping. Zora chuckled.

"You fool," she said. "He's not trapped in here with _you_ … you're trapped in here with _him_! Use Pluck again!"

Koga healed up his Ariados before Dingbat struck with another Pluck, taking it down to the same health as before.

"Another one," Zora said. "Finish it off!"

With the next Pluck, Ariados was taken out. Koga withdrew it and sent out his Venomoth next, so Zora called Dingbat back and sent out Crisper instead to take care of it.

"Crisper, use Rock Throw!" Zora ordered.

"Use Toxic!" Koga ordered.

Venomoth missed its Toxic, and Crisper landed her Rock Throw. It wasn't taken out completely though.

"Another Rock Throw!" Zora ordered.

"Use Supersonic!" Koga ordered.

Venomoth missed its Supersonic as well, and Crisper's next Rock Throw took it out. Next, Koga sent out his Forretress, so Zora kept Crisper in.

"Use Flamethrower, Crisper!" Zora said.

Crisper spewed a large flame at the Forretress, and despite Crisper's low special attack stat, she took it out in a single hit. Koga sent out his Muk next. Zora looked at her notes and scratched her head in confusion.

 _Why did I decide to send in Goofy against this?_ she thought. _Crisper has higher attack than him, and Earthquake does more damage than Zen Headbutt. Gunk Shot is even physical, and Crisper has better defense as well._

"Stay in, Crisper," Zora said. "You can handle this."

Crisper nodded and faced the Muk.

"Use Earthquake, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

Zora had made the right choice, for Crisper took out the Muk in one hit. Koga withdrew it and sent out his last Pokémon; his Crobat. For that, Zora withdrew Crisper and sent out Bambi instead.

"One Pokémon left?" Koga observed. "Hahaha! I've been counting on this one since the beginning!"

"So have I," Zora said. "Use Thunderbolt, Bambi!"

Bambi's Quick Claw allowed him to go first, and his Thunderbolt took out the Crobat in one hit. Koga had been beaten without any of Zora's Pokémon taking damage.

"Ah! You have proven your worth!" Koga remarked. "I subjected you to everything I could muster. But my efforts failed. I must hone my skills. Go on to the next room, and put your abilities to the test!"

With that, the door to the next room opened, and they could face the third member of the Elite Four. Before they entered, Zora refilled Dingbat, Crisper and Bambi's moves with five Leppa Berries in total, even though they had barely lost anything. She wanted them to be in tip-top shape for each battle.

Zora kept Dingbat in the front, and they entered the third room. The space beneath the floor was filled with lava, which could give the impression that this Elite Four member specialized in Fire-types, but that was misleading. Had Zora not researched them online, she would have been fooled. She stepped forward and faced the third member of the Elite Four, a giant man with giant muscles.

"I am Bruno of the Elite Four," he introduced himself. "I always train to the extreme because I believe in our potential. That is how we became strong. Can you withstand our power? Hm? I see no fear in you. You look determined. Perfect for battle! Ready, Zora? You will bow down to our overwhelming power! Hoo hah!"

Bruno sat his large figure on the floor and drew his first Poké Ball, sending out his Hitmontop. Zora gestured for Dingbat to go forth.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat plucked the Hitmontop, but it did not go down completely having a quarter of its health remaining. Zora cringed.

"Use Counter!" Bruno ordered.

"No, no, no, no!" Zora shrieked.

Hitmontop used Counter, and Zora watched with terror as Dingbat's health went down…

…and stopped at ten HP. Zora felt her entire body shaking.

 _That was so close,_ Zora thought anxiously. _Let's see… It knows Quick Attack, and a single one will kill Dingbat if I don't heal now. Bruno might heal up here now, but if he doesn't, Dingbat WILL die. I have no choice but to heal up and see what he does next._

"Here," Zora said and used a Max Potion on Dingbat, bringing him back to full health.

"Use Quick Attack!" Bruno said.

Hitmontop used Quick Attack, but since Dingbat's health was back to full, it didn't do much. Zora had chosen right, and Dingbat was still alive. Even better, Bruno had foolishly chosen not to heal up his own Pokémon.

"This is our chance, Dingbat!" Zora exclaimed. "Finish it with Pluck!"

"Quick Attack!" Bruno ordered.

Hitmontop barely did anything to Dingbat, and it was taken out by his next Pluck. Zora sighed of relief. Bruno sent out his Onix next. Zora thought about what to do.

 _Dingbat needs to be at full health for the Hitmonchan,_ she thought. _If he doesn't take it out with one Pluck, he needs to be able to tank a ThunderPunch or Ice Punch, as long as they don't crit. I need to heal him up while Goofy is out to take a hit from Onix and then take it out._

"Rest up for a bit, Dingbat," Zora said and called him back. "Go, Goofy!"

As Goofy was sent out to face Bruno's Onix, Zora used her turn to heal Dingbat with a Sitrus Berry, but it didn't heal him completely, which she thought it would.

"Use Earthquake!" Bruno ordered.

The Earthquake barely did anything to Goofy, so Zora decided to give Dingbat an Oran Berry, just to make sure he was completely healed.

"Use Sandstorm!" Bruno ordered, and sand began flying around them. Annoying, but Zora thought they could handle it.

"Use Surf, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Earthquake!" Bruno ordered.

The Earthquake again barely did anything, while Goofy's Surf took out the Onix in one hit. Now though, Goofy was near half his health, and Bruno sent out his Hitmonchan. Zora called Goofy back and sent out Dingbat instead.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat's Pluck didn't completely knock out the Hitmonchan.

"Use ThunderPunch!" Bruno ordered.

Zora folded her hands and prayed as the Hitmonchan landed a ThunderPunch on Dingbat. Like before, though, Dingbat ate up the punch, and Zora sighed of relief. He would live a crit from full health. Both Pokémon were hit by the Sandstorm.

"He's going to heal up now," Zora muttered to herself. "If I hit him again and again, it should be taken out. Even a Bullet Punch shouldn't take Dingbat out. Dingbat, use Pluck again!"

Bruno did heal up his Hitmonchan with a Full Restore. Dingbat took it back down to the health it had before with Pluck. Both were hit by the Sandstorm, and the Hitmonchan was about to faint.

"Another Pluck!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

Dingbat hit first and took out the Hitmonchan at last. The Sandstorm subsided, and Bruno sent out his Machamp. Zora bit her lip in nervousness.

 _Both Goofy and Dingbat are wounded now,_ she thought. _Goofy has to take out the Machamp, and Dingbat has to take out the Hitmonlee. If I send in Goofy now and heal him up first, he can take any hit from the Machamp. Then I heal up Dingbat, and if Goofy gets too hurt next, I'll heal him up again before striking the Machamp._

Zora called Dingbat back and sent out Goofy again. She healed up Goofy first, using a Moomoo Milk. The two Pokémon cried at each other with almost identical cries.

"Use Revenge!" Bruno ordered.

Revenge barely did anything to Goofy. Zora used her next turn to heal up Dingbat, also with a Moomoo Milk.

"Use Cross Chop!" Bruno ordered.

Cross Chop didn't do much, but Goofy had still taken a bit more damage than Zora was comfortable with, so she decided to heal him with another Moomoo Milk in the next turn.

"Use Cross Chop again!" Bruno ordered.

Not doing much damage, Zora decided to strike next.

"Use Zen Headbutt, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Cross Chop!" Bruno ordered.

With Cross Chop, Zen Headbutt and the Machamp eating a Sitrus Berry, both Pokémon were at about the same percentage of health. Zora decided to heal up her Slowbro again, as the next Zen Headbutt would be certain to beat the Machamp. She used another Moomoo Milk on Goofy.

"Use Rock Slide!" Bruno ordered.

Rock Slide barely did anything, like the other moves.

"Use Zen Headbutt again, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

Surprisingly, Goofy out-sped the Machamp and landed his Zen Headbutt. The Machamp did not go down completely, however.

"Use Revenge!" Bruno said.

Zora was worried for a second, but even with its low health, Machamp barely did anything with Revenge to Goofy. Zora pondered what to do next.

 _He still has one Full Restore left,_ Zora thought. _He will probably heal up now. I could heal up too, or I could attack to bring it down again, or in case he doesn't heal up, take it out._

"Goofy, use Zen Headbutt again!" Zora decided.

"Use Rock Slide!" Bruno ordered.

Zora was surprised Bruno didn't decide to heal, but the Rock Slide caused Goofy to flinch. Furthermore, he was below half his max health, making Zora uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if a crit would kill, but she didn't want to take the chance this time. She healed Goofy up with a Hyper Potion in the next turn.

"Use Revenge!" Bruno ordered.

Revenge barely did anything, and Zora wondered if he had already used two Full Restores, or if he didn't care about his Machamp after all?

"Use Zen Headbutt!" Zora ordered. "Finish it off!"

"Use Rock Slide!" Bruno ordered.

Rock Slide made Goofy flinch again.

"Another Zen Headbutt!" Zora ordered. "Don't flinch!"

Goofy out-sped the Machamp again and took it out with his next Zen Headbutt. Zora praised Goofy and returned him, sending out Dingbat again to take care of Bruno's last Pokémon; his Hitmonlee.

"Fight as hard as you can 'til you faint!" Bruno said as his Hitmonlee came out.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Dingbat's Pluck took out the Hitmonlee in one hit. The third Elite Four member had been beaten.

"Why?!" Bruno exclaimed surprised. "…How could we lose?"

"Great job, Dingbat, Goofy!" Zora praised. "Now rest up."

Bruno withdrew his fainted Pokémon and looked down at Zora. "Having lost, I have no right to say anything…" he said. "Go face your next challenge!"

With that, the next door opened, allowing Zora and the team to face the last member of the Elite Four before the Champion. Zora first decided to heal up her team and restore their power points, using three Leppa Berries, a Sitrus Berry and an Oran Berry. Afterwards, she gave Dingbat a new Lum Berry to hold and put Kale in front to let Dingbat rest until he had to go again.

"One left," Kale remarked as they went to the next room. "And no one died yet."

"But Dingbat almost died," Zora pointed out. "And we still have this one left, as well as Lance. Let's do this, partner."

They entered the next room, which was very dark, and the floor was tiled with dark purple tiles and pretty light yellow stars, almost as if the floor itself was a night sky. From the floor stood large blue crystals sticking up. There was no doubt that this fourth and last Elite Four member specialized in the Dark-type. Zora and Kale stepped forward to face her.

"I am Karen of the Elite Four," she introduced herself. "You're Zora? How amusing. I love Dark-type Pokémon. I'm known for my overpowering tactics. Think you can take them? Just try to entertain me. Let's go."

Karen drew her first Poké Ball and sent out her Umbreon. Zora and Kale looked at each other and nodded determined. Kale stepped forward to face the Umbreon.

"Use Razor Leaf, Kale!" Zora ordered.

"Use Faint Attack!" Karen ordered.

Kale hit first with Razor Leaf, but it barely did anything to the tanky Umbreon. Umbreon's Faint Attack did a little more damage to Kale, but it was a crit and thus not concerning.

"Use Body Slam, Kale!" Zora ordered. This would take a while.

Body Slam did about the same as Razor Leaf, and the Umbreon got paralyzed and unable to move. Its ability, Synchronize, caused Kale to also get paralyzed, but thanks to the Lum Berry he was holding, he got cured of it immediately.

"I guess we just continue Razor Leaf and hope for a critical hit," Zora said. "Do it, Kale!"

"Use Faint Attack again!" Karen ordered.

Kale launched another Razor Leaf and got the Umbreon below half its health. The Umbreon's Faint Attack almost got Kale to half his health, but not quite.

"Another Razor Leaf!" Zora ordered.

"Use Payback!" Karen ordered.

Razor Leaf got Umbreon to about the range of health at which Karen would probably heal it up next. Payback didn't do much to Kale. Zora decided to heal up with a Moomoo Milk and see what Karen would do next. She also decided to heal up her Umbreon with a Full Restore, removing the paralysis at the same time. Since Kale wasn't holding a Lum Berry anymore, he would get paralyzed or poisoned if he afflicted either to Umbreon next.

"Keep using Razor Leaf, Kale!" Zora ordered. "We'll get it down eventually!"

"Use Double Team!" Karen ordered.

Umbreon avoided Kale's Razor Leaf and boosted its evasiveness with Double Team. Now the battle could go on even longer. Kale used another Razor Leaf, and Umbreon used Confuse Ray on Kale. Kale hurt himself in confusion on the next turn and took a little damage from Faint Attack, but Zora ordered him to keep trying with Razor Leaf. Kale immediately snapped out of confusion and landed his next Razor Leaf, and Umbreon used Payback to take him to about the same percentage of health as itself.

"Another Razor Leaf!" Zora ordered.

"Faint Attack!" Karen ordered.

Both Pokémon took each other to the same percentage of health. Zora decided to heal up again with another Moomoo Milk, after which the Umbreon used another Faint Attack. Kale landed another Razor Leaf next and took the Umbreon into the red, while its Payback didn't do much.

"One more Razor Leaf, Kale!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

Kale's next Razor Leaf finally took out the Umbreon. Zora sighed.

"Finally," Zora said. "Good job, Kale. Rest up now, buddy. Come out, Bambi!"

Zora sent out Bambi as Karen sent out her Murkrow.

"Use Thunderbolt, Bambi!" Zora ordered.

"Use Faint Attack!" Karen ordered.

The Murkrow barely did any damage to Bambi, it only got itself paralyzed by his Static ability. Bambi's Thunderbolt took it out in one hit, and Bambi grew to level forty-nine. Next, Karen sent in her Houndoom, so Zora decided to send in Coco to perform their new strategy.

"Use Sand-Attack, Coco!" Zora ordered.

"Use Flamethrower!" Karen ordered.

Flamethrower didn't do much to Coco, and Coco managed to kick sand in the Houndoom's face to lower its accuracy.

"Another Sand-Attack!" Zora ordered.

"Flamethrower again!" Karen ordered.

Houndoom couldn't see through the sand in its eyes and missed its Flamethrower. Coco threw more sand in its eyes.

"Another Sand-Attack!" Zora ordered.

"Use Nasty Plot!" Karen ordered.

Houndoom's special attack was boosted by Nasty Plot, which Zora was concerned about, but with a third layer of sand in its eyes, it should have even harder to hit anything.

"More sand!" Zora ordered.

"More Nasty Plot!" Karen ordered.

Zora was concerned. Even with four layers of sand in its eyes, if that Houndoom hit Crisper with Dark Pulse with two Nasty Plots, she would definitely not live.

"More sand!" Zora ordered.

"Flamethrower!" Karen ordered.

Houndoom missed its flamethrower again, and it now had five layers of sand in its eyes. Zora wondered if it would be enough.

"Use Confuse Ray!" Zora decided instead.

Houndoom missed another Flamethrower and got confused. Zora called Coco back and sent out Bambi instead to paralyze it, even though he had lost a little bit of health. She thought he could handle it.

"Use Flamethrower!" Karen ordered.

Houndoom was still confused, but broke through it, and despite the five layers of sand in its eyes, it managed to land a Flamethrower.

"No!" Zora exclaimed. "Bambi!"

Houndoom engulfed Bambi in flames. Bambi screamed in pain. Zora watched with terror as his health decreased, lower and lower…

…

…Bambi collapsed on the floor. He cried out, then went silent.

Zora stared at Bambi on the floor in disbelief.

"No…" Zora said. "No, no, no, no…"

Zora stepped over to Bambi and knelt down by him. "Bambi…" she said and nudged him.

Bambi looked up at Zora with tears in his eyes. He smiled weakly. Then… his eyes closed, and he breathed his last breath.

"Bambi…" Zora whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "BAMBI!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAMBI NOOOO!!!!!  
> Of all things I could lose, it HAD to be my favorite child!  
> I HATCHED THAT BOY FROM AN EGG! HE WAS STILL A CHILD!  
> HE'S BEEN WITH US SINCE OUR FIRST DAY!  
> HOW DARE YOU KILL MY CHILD, KAREN!! YOU MUST PAY!!!
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 8  
> Live Pokémon: 60  
> Death counter: 1


	34. The Champion

Zora stared at Bambi's lifeless corpse. Kale stared in disbelief as well.

"Bambi…" Kale said. He glared at Karen's Houndoom, which grinned maliciously at the scene. Karen seemed amused by the scene as well.

"You think Pokémon only faint?" Karen remarked. "You're not the first one to come in here and lose everything, child. Only the strong shall survive. The weak shall perish."

Zora clenched her fists and shook. She raised her head and glared with hatred at Karen and her Houndoom.

"You will pay for this," Zora hissed. She put Bambi's body over to Kale, then she rose up and drew a Poké Ball. "Crisper! Come out!"

Crisper came out of her Poké Ball and watched with horror the body of Bambi lying dead on the floor by the foot of Kale. Crisper growled at Houndoom in anger.

"You monster!" Crisper snarled. "He was just a kid! How dare you kill him?! I will kill _you_!"

"Use Dark Pulse!" Karen ordered.

Houndoom broke out of its confusion but missed its Dark Pulse.

"USE EARTHQUAKE, CRISPER!" Zora screamed.

Crisper roared and quaked the floor beneath them. Floor pieces smashed against the Houndoom, and it went down in a single hit. Karen withdrew her Houndoom and sent out her Vileplume next. Zora did not withdraw Crisper, instead telling her to stand back while Dingbat was sent out.

"You will pay for what you did to Bambi!" Dingbat screeched.

"Use Pluck, Dingbat!" Zora screamed.

Dingbat took it down below half health.

"Use Petal Dance!" Karen ordered.

Petal Dance did practically nothing.

"KILL IT WITH PLUCK!" Zora screamed.

Dingbat plucked the Vileplume again and took it out. Now Karen only had her Gengar left. Zora sent out Goofy to work out their plan.

"This is far from being backed into a corner!" Karen said.

"Goofy, use Disable!" Zora ordered.

"Use Focus Blast!" Karen ordered.

The Focus Blast barely did anything, and the move was immediately disabled.

"Disable again!" Zora ordered. "We'll keep doing it until Destiny Bond is disabled!"

"Use Spite!" Karen ordered.

Disable's power points were cut by four, and Disable itself failed. Zora cursed.

"Seems it can only disable one move at a time," she said. "This won't be as easy as I thought. We can't let it faint right away, in case it uses Destiny Bond. Use Ice Beam, Goofy!"

"Use Spite!" Karen ordered.

Disable lost an additional four points, and Ice Beam didn't take the Gengar to half health. A crit Ice Beam would kill it now, but what were the chances of it killing now?

"Use Ice Beam!" Zora ordered, deciding to risk it.

"Use Spite!" Karen ordered.

Ice Beam's points were cut by four, but it took it down to low health.

"You have backed me into a corner," Karen said.

Zora was unsure what to do now. Karen might heal up, but if she didn't she might use Destiny Bond. If that happened, any attack would not only beat the Gengar, but also kill Goofy. And Zora could not afford to lose Goofy as well. She needed him for Lance.

"Goofy, get back," Zora said, and he stepped back. "Dingbat, come over here."

"Use Destiny Bond!" Karen ordered.

Zora had made the right call. "Use Confuse Ray, Dingbat!" Zora ordered.

Gengar was confused but broke out and used Spite. The Destiny Bond had been broken.

"Now's our chance!" Zora said. "Use Bite!"

Dingbat bit hard onto the Gengar and took it out, finally beating Karen. Zora's shoulders slumped as the battle was over.

"Well aren't you good," Karen remarked. "I like that in a Trainer."

Zora wasn't smiling at her victory. They had won, but at what cost? She gazed over at her entire team, gathered around Bambi's body, even Coco, who had come out on his own.

"Strong Pokémon," Karen said, and Zora just barely granted her attention. "Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love best. I like your style. You understand what's important. Go on – the Champion is waiting."

With that, the next door opened, granting Zora access to the Champion's room. She didn't go right away. She went over to her Pokémon and knelt by Bambi's corpse.

"I'm sorry, Bambi," Zora whispered and laid a hand on the still warm body, charred by Houndoom's Flamethrower. "I shouldn't have gone for the Confuse Ray. I should have just gone directly to Crisper and taken it out."

"It would have seen through the sand and landed the Flamethrower on me anyway," Crisper said quietly.

"You don't know that," Zora muttered. "Bambi… Oh my god, I can't believe we lost Bambi! Now what do we do against the Gyarados, Aerodactyl and Charizard?"

"I will handle the Charizard and Aerodactyl," Crisper said.

"What about the Gyarados though?" Zora pondered. "Bambi was supposed to take it out with one Thunderbolt. It's faster than you, Crisper, and I don't think you can survive a Waterfall or Ice Fang, even with your defenses. Especially not a Waterfall."

"I… will handle… it…"

Everyone looked around for the strange voice. Their gazed fell on Goofy, who looked more determined than usual.

"Goofy?" Zora replied in surprise. "You _can_ talk?"

"I don't want… anyone else… to die…" Goofy said slowly. "Leave… Gyarados… to me…"

Zora's mouth wavered, then turned into a smile. "I will count on you, Goofy," she said. "I hope… no one else dies…"

Zora looked back down at the small figure of Bambi. She pulled out his Poké Ball. She took the Quick Claw from Bambi's grasp, instead giving it to Crisper, taking her Lum Berry instead.

"This battle is for you, Bambi," Zora said quietly and held the Poké Ball at him. "We'll be okay. You've done well. I'll see you later… my child."

Zora clicked the button on Bambi's Poké Ball, and he was returned into it. She rose up and put his Poké Ball in the back of the team. They could not turn back now, so they would have to wait with the funeral for later.

"Dragonite cannot paralyze you, Crisper," Zora said and turned to the Golem, staring at Bambi's Quick Claw in her hands. "If you can move first with the Quick Claw, you might be able to take it out without dying yourself. Goofy will have to take care of the two other Dragonite with Ice Beam."

Zora took Goofy's Zoom Lens and gave him the NeverMeltIce instead. Zora healed up everyone with Sitrus Berries and an Oran Berry, and restored their power points with Leppa Berries. Afterwards, she gave Rare Candies to everyone, elevating Goofy, Crisper, Coco and Dingbat to level fifty, and Kale to level forty-nine. Crisper wanted to learn Stone Edge, which was twice as powerful as Rock Throw but only had an 80% accuracy. Zora thought for a while before deciding to teach Crisper Stone Edge and unlearning Rock Throw, then giving her the Wide Lens to hold instead.

"Quick Claw only gives a chance of hitting first," Zora explained. "So Crisper might not hit first on the Dragonite. But if she can survive a hit and land a Stone Edge, that might take it out. The problem is it only has five uses, so we have to make it count."

"Great," Crisper replied. "More faith in destiny. I'll try my best to hit the target and survive whatever they throw at me."

"I hope so," Zora said.

Zora decided to also allow Coco to learn Last Resort, forgetting Headbutt. Zora decided to give Kale the Quick Claw to hold, in case he was the only one left to fight.

With everyone healed up, holding new items and leveled up, Zora put everyone but Goofy back in their Poké Balls and went for the last door, leading to the Champion's room. They walked past the Dratini statues and walked up to Lance, waiting for them.

"I've been waiting for you," Lance said. "Zora! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There's no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"

Lance drew his first Poké Ball and sent out his first Pokémon, his Gyarados. Zora looked at Goofy and nodded, gesturing him to go forward. Intimidate cut Goofy's attack though.

"Use Zen Headbutt, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Lance ordered.

Neither attack did much to the other.

"Use Ice Beam!" Zora ordered.

"Use Dragon Pulse again!" Lance ordered.

Dragon Pulse didn't do much again, but Ice Beam took the Gyarados to half its health.

"Another Ice Beam, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Another Dragon Pulse!" Lance ordered.

Gyarados' Dragon Pulse didn't do much to the tanky Goofy, while Goofy took it down to almost the red zone.

 _He's either going to heal up or withdraw it now,_ Zora thought. _The best thing now is to heal up and see what he does._

Zora healed Goofy with a Moomoo Milk, getting him back to full health. Lance used a Full Restore to get his Gyarados back to full health as well.

"Use another Ice Beam!" Zora ordered.

"Dragon Pulse!" Lance ordered.

Goofy's attack did more than Gyarados' attack, but not much.

"Another one!" Zora ordered.

"Another one!" Lance ordered.

Gyarados was brought to below half health, Goofy having only lost a quarter of his total health.

"Ice Beam again!" Zora ordered.

"Dragon Pulse!" Lance ordered.

Gyarados was brought into the red zone, with Goofy having two thirds of his health remaining. Zora decided to heal up again with her last Moomoo Milk to see what Lance was going to do next.

"Use Flail!" Lance ordered.

Flail barely did anything, despite the low health Gyarados had.

"Use Ice Beam!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

"Flail!" Lance ordered.

Not doing much to Goofy, the Gyarados was taken out. Lance withdrew it and was about to send out one of his Dragonite. Zora didn't know which one, but if it was either of the weak ones, she had to send in Coco to tank a hit. If it was the strong one, she had to heal up Goofy to tank a hit. Either way, Goofy had to be healed up.

"Goofy, stay in," Zora said.

Lance sent out one of his three Dragonite. It was one of the weaker ones, probably the one with Thunder, since Goofy was a Water-type. Zora didn't want to risk Crisper though.

"Goofy, get back!" Zora said and withdrew him. "Go! Coco!"

Coco came out.

"Use Thunder!" Lance ordered.

The attack barely did anything to Coco. Zora wasn't sure if it would be a good choice to send in Crisper right away though, so instead she decided to heal up Goofy for when he was needed, using a Hyper Potion.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite missed its Dragon Rush.

"Coco, get back," Zora said and withdrew him. "Go, Crisper!"

Crisper came out and was unaffected by a Thunder Wave Lance tried to use on Coco.

"Use Stone Edge, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered.

Dragon Rush almost took Crisper to half her health, and Stone Edge hit. Zora watched intensely as the Dragonite's health went down and stopped at the red zone. She had to heal up Crisper to take a potential crit Dragon Rush or a Hyper Beam, even though Lance would probably heal up his Dragonite as well. She used a Hyper Potion and got Crisper back to full health.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite took Crisper down to the same health as she had before. Zora healed up again. A crit wouldn't kill, she had calculated.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered again.

Crisper went down the same health as before. Zora healed up again with a Hyper Potion.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered.

This time, Dragon Rush missed, giving Zora an opportunity.

"Use Stone Edge, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered again.

Dragon Rush took Crisper to about half her health. Stone Edge hit and took down the Dragonite. Lance withdrew it and was about to send out another Dragonite. Since Crisper was weak to Ice, Zora assumed this would be the one with Blizzard.

"Crisper, good job," Zora praised. "Get back. Goofy, go!"

Zora sent out Goofy again, and Lance sent out his second Dragonite. It was the other weak one, the one with Blizzard. Crisper would have to be at full health to take on the Charizard and Aerodactyl, so Zora decided to heal her up and let Goofy tank whatever attack the Dragonite would launch.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite landed a critical hit Dragon Rush on Goofy, which left him with a quarter of his health left. Good. Zora healed him up to stall until the Dragonite missed one of its attacks or used Hyper Beam.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered again.

Dragonite hit a normal Dragon Rush, taking Goofy to almost half his health. Zora healed him up with another Hyper Potion. Good thing she stocked up on them.

"Use Thunder Wave!" Lance ordered.

Goofy got paralyzed. Zora hummed. This was annoying, but he was already slow, and if he got crit again, she would use a Full Restore on him.

"Use Ice Beam, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite took Goofy back to about half health, and Goofy was unable to move, so Zora decided to use a Full Restore immediately, curing his paralysis as well.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Lance ordered again.

This time, Dragon Rush missed, and they had a chance.

"Use Ice Beam!" Zora ordered.

"Use Thunder Wave again!" Lance ordered.

Goofy got paralyzed again, but he managed to break through and took down the Dragonite in one hit with Ice Beam.

"Great job, Goofy!" Zora praised. "Get back now. Crisper, you're up!"

Zora sent out Crisper as Lance sent out his Aerodactyl. Goofy didn't need to get healed right away, so that could wait. The Aerodactyl put Pressure on Crisper, meaning her Stone Edge could only be used two more times before running out.

"Use Stone Edge, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

"Use Crunch!" Lance ordered.

Aerodactyl did a little damage to Crisper, but Crisper managed to land a critical hit Stone Edge and took out the Aerodactyl in one hit.

"Awesome, Crisper!" Zora praised. "Get back now. Goofy, you're up again!"

Zora sent out Goofy again to face Lance's third and last Dragonite, his ace, at level fifty. She hoped he would be able to tank whatever hits it threw at him.

"Use Ice Beam, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Outrage!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite took Goofy to half his health, and Goofy broke through the paralysis to almost take it out. The Dragonite ate its Sitrus Berry, taking it above healing range. Zora decided to stall and healed Goofy up with a Full Restore.

Dragonite used another Outrage, being locked into it. It took him back to the health he had before. One more turn, and it would become confused. Hopefully a crit wouldn't kill. Zora healed him up with a Full Restore again.

Dragonite used its third Outrage. It did less damage than before, and Dragonite got confused. To be safe, however, Zora decided to use a Hyper Potion on Goofy.

The Dragonite hurt itself in confusion, taking it back to healing range. Lance used a Full Restore on it.

"Use Ice Beam, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

Goofy landed a high roll Ice Beam on the Dragonite and almost took it out, but not completely. The Dragonite got frozen solid, and Zora cheered.

"One more Ice Beam!" Zora ordered. "Take it out!"

Only, Lance used another Full Restore to heal up his Dragonite. Goofy used his last Ice Beam… and landed a critical hit, taking out the last Dragonite. Zora cheered.

"Great job, Goofy!" Zora praised. "Now he only has his Charizard left. You're still strong, so stay in!"

Zora let Goofy stay in the battle as Lance sent out his Charizard, his final Pokémon.

"All right!" Lance said. "I thought this would never happen!"

"Use Surf, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Air Slash!"

Charizard landed a critical hit Air Slash on Goofy and took him to half health. Goofy's Surf took Charizard to the red zone. Another crit from Charizard would kill Goofy.

"I never give up, no matter what," Lance said. "You must be the same?"

"You bet," Zora said.

Zora used a Hyper Potion on Goofy to bring him back to full health, and Lance used a Full Restore to bring his Charizard back to full health as well.

"Use Surf again, Goofy!" Zora ordered.

"Use Air Slash again!" Lance ordered.

Neither move crit or took out the other. Another Surf would take out the Charizard. A crit from Charizard wouldn't kill.

"Use Surf!" Zora ordered.

"Use Air Slash!" Lance ordered.

Charizard's Air Slash made Goofy flinch, and now he was in the danger zone. Zora healed him up again with a Hyper Potion, not wanting to lose Goofy.

"Use Air Slash!" Lance ordered again.

Goofy didn't take much damage.

"Use Air Slash again!" Lance ordered.

The Air Slash took Goofy to half health, but it didn't flinch this time.

"Now's our chance!" Zora said. "Take it out! Surf!"

Goofy landed one last Surf… and the Charizard was taken out. Goofy reached level fifty-one, and the battle was won.

Champion Lance had been defeated. Zora had won the Pokémon League.

"…It's over," Lance said as he withdrew his fainted Charizard. "But it's an odd feeling I have. I'm not angry that I lost. I feel happy. Happy to see the rise of a new Champion!"

Zora's shoulders slumped, and she sighed of relief. It was over. The curse would be lifted now.

But Bambi was not with them to witness this moment. He was not alive to be free with them.

The victory didn't feel the same without Bambi.

Lance put on a smile despite Zora's bittersweet victory. "…Whew," he said. "You have become truly powerful, Zora. Your Pokémon have responded to your strong and upstanding nature. As a Trainer, you will continue to grow strong with your Pokémon."

The big door at the end of the room opened. Before they could move on, however, someone appeared from behind them. Lance stepped to stand beside Zora, and Goofy sought cover behind Zora out of bashfulness. It was Professor Oak and Mary from the radio show, Pokémon Talk.

"Oh, no!" Mary said, having reached the two Champions first. "It's all over! Professor Oak, if you weren't so slow…"

Oak came walking up a moment later. "Ah, Zora!" he greeted. "It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, trust, and love for your Pokémon made this happen."

Zora gazed at Goofy behind her. She wondered if she had really done her best, considering Bambi had died.

"Your Pokémon were outstanding, too," Oak continued. "Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, Zora!"

Mary looked excited at Zora. "Let's interview the brand-new Champion!" she said.

Lance walked away from the two newcomers. "This is getting to be a bit too noisy…" he commented. "Zora, could you come with me?"

Zora and Goofy followed Lance through the large doorway into the secret room that no one else but the Champions were allowed to enter. Zora put Goofy back in his Poké Ball, as they walked through the dim lit hallway with pillars, and a machine at the end of the room to put Poké Balls inside. They stood and looked at the machine for a while in silence.

"It's been a long time since I last came here," Lance explained quietly. "This is where we commemorate the League Champions for all eternity. Their courageous Pokémon are also inducted. Here today, we witnessed the rise of a new League Champion – a Trainer who feels compassion for, and trust toward, all Pokémon. A Trainer who succeeded through perseverance and determination. The new League Champion who has all the makings of greatness!"

Lance turned and looked directly at Zora, with a smile. She forced a smile on her face in return.

"Zora, allow me to register you and your partners as Champions!" Lance said.

Zora walked up to the saving machine and brought out her Poké Balls. As she inserted each ball, she thought about the individual Pokémon that had served her in the Pokémon League.

Zora inserted Goofy's Poké Ball into the machine first. She had caught him way back in the Slowpoke Well at level six, after stopping Team Rocket from taking the Slowpoke's tails to sell for profit. She had mostly used him for transport across water, but after beating the seventh Gym, she decided to make him an official part of the team and trained him up. He turned out to have been a vital part of her team, and thanks to him, they had come out as Champions.

Zora inserted Dingbat's Poké Ball into the machine as the second. She had caught him way, way back in the Dark Cave, when he was a mere level two Zubat. Dingbat had been with them since the very beginning, being the fourth Pokémon she had caught, and the fifth member of her original team. She didn't think he would make it this far, but he was much stronger than he looked, and he had helped them through some really tough battles, and whenever it had looked like he was going to die, he pushed through and survived with the bulk of the Crobat he was.

Zora inserted Coco's Poké Ball into the machine as the third. Coco had been given to Zora as a level five Eevee by Bill, after having arrived in Ecruteak City and then returned to Goldenrod City. He had fought all his battles in the early levels by himself, being much stronger than the Eevee she had lost nearly a month before she started her journey. With the bulk of the Umbreon he was, he had survived many powerful attacks and allowed the team to heal up and set up strategies when needed to stall. The strategy with using Sand-Attack was a good one, but Zora had made the wrong call, and none of it was Coco's fault. Thanks to him, Crisper had survived.

Zora inserted Crisper's Poké Ball into the machine as the fourth. Crisper had been with them for a very long time, ever since they earned their first Badge from Violet City. Zora had caught her as a Geodude in Route 46, when she was only level two. She had caught her at night after catching a Rattata in Sprout Tower, to guarantee she would get a Geodude. And with great luck, she caught a female Geodude, and Crisper had been a huge help in the battle against Whitney, Bugsy and many other tough battles. Thanks to her, two of Lance's Pokémon had been beaten, and without her, Zora would not have become the Champion today.

Zora inserted Kale's Poké Ball into the machine as the fifth one. Kale was her Starter, the one she got at the very beginning of her journey, from Professor Elm himself. Kale was only a level five Chikorita back then, and Zora was uncertain whether the Starter she had been given would survive or not, considering how awful Grass-type Pokémon were in Trainer battles in Johto. But Kale had survived to the League, and he was still alive. Despite not having been used much in battle, he had been a huge help in catching wild Pokémon. Had it not been for Kale, Zora would not have had a huge arsenal of Pokémon in her storage box now. She could not have been given a better Starter.

With a heavy heart, Zora inserted the last Poké Ball into the machine, Bambi's Poké Ball. Bambi had been with them since the first day. She had received him from an egg, given to her by Primo in Violet City. That same evening, the egg hatched, and Bambi the Mareep had been born. Bambi had survived several close calls, including the first Gym battle, against Falkner. Despite his young age and small size, he had been bulky and tough, and he had helped them through many, really tough battles. He had done so well in the Pokémon League, and then he had just been killed due to bad luck and a poor decision by Zora.

Zora still couldn't believe Bambi was gone. She didn't know how well Lance's battle would have gone if he had still been alive, but no one else had died since his death. Bambi had helped them through the Elite Four to the best of his abilities. Thanks to him, they had defeated the League and become Champions.

Bambi had been a young hero, now a fallen warrior. He would not be forgotten. He would be missed.

* * *

Zora returned home to New Bark Town and was reunited with her mother. She finally told her mother about what happened to Fluffy, and what happened to Bambi during the Pokémon League. Her mother was shocked, but comforted her daughter over the loss of her Pokémon.

Together, Zora, her mother and Zora's Pokémon buried Bambi's Poké Ball in the backyard. They held a small funeral and said goodbye to the little guy.

To Zora's surprise, Sid showed up in town and attended the funeral as well. His Pidgey sat on his left shoulder.

"Who died?" Sid asked.

"Bambi," Zora replied. "My Ampharos. I've had him since my first day. I hatched him from an egg."

"Oof," Sid said. "I'm sorry for your loss. What happened?"

"I got unlucky," Zora explained. "I had lowered Karen's Houndoom's accuracy with Sand-Attack and confused it, then I switched into Bambi to paralyze it before switching to Crisper and taking it out with Earthquake. But the Houndoom broke through the confusion and ignored the sand, and it landed a Flamethrower, boosted by two Nasty Plots, and Bambi died without a chance to withstand it."

"That sounds awful," Sid commented. He fell silent for a moment, waiting for everyone else but the two of them and the Pokémon to clear the place. "Do you know about Ho-Oh?"

Zora looked back at him. "The legendary bird Pokémon?" Zora asked.

"Yeah," Sid replied. "It's said to have the power to resurrect the dead and reincarnate them. That's what happened to the three legendary beasts, Raikou, Entei and Suicune."

Zora thought about it for a moment. "I have thought of it myself," Zora said. "But… I don't want Bambi to change. I do want him to be alive again though…"

"If you can prove your worth to Ho-Oh, maybe it will revive Bambi," Sid suggested. "But it won't be easy. You will have to go on another journey."

Zora and her Pokémon turned their attention to Sid. "I can get Bambi back?" she asked.

"Do you want to know why I'm actually here in Johto?" Sid asked.

"I thought you were just sightseeing?"

"That's only partly the reason. The reason I'm really here… is because I'm looking for Ho-Oh."

Zora and her Pokémon gazed at each other in silence for a moment. "You mean… you want it to resurrect your own Pokémon?"

"Yes," Sid replied. "I've lost friends too. I've been travelling around Johto all this time since we last met, trying to find Ho-Oh. But I couldn't. I had a dream the other day. Ho-Oh will only meet and help a Trainer worthy of its power. And… I don't think I have that worth. But you do, Zora. At least, you can have it."

Zora gazed at the ground for a long time. "I don't know if I can do this all over again," she said. "Doesn't this mean I will have to regain that curse? Risk my Pokémon's lives again?"

"You've been doing that from the beginning," Sid reminded her. "You have only lost one Pokémon on your entire journey. That is very impressive. I think you can handle another journey, to bring back your dead."

Zora looked at Sid in the eyes for a long time. "I have to mourn Bambi," Zora said. "But… I am curious about your journey, Sid. I want to know how your journey went, in Sinnoh."

Sid looked a bit surprised at the request. "I… I guess I can tell you about it," he said. "Can we go back to your house?"

"Sure," Zora replied and turned back to the grave. She gazed uncertain at her Pokémon before kneeling down… and digging up the Poké Ball again.

"What are you doing, Zora?" Crisper asked in disbelief.

"Let him rest in peace!" Coco begged.

"Zora, this is wrong," Kale said. "Don't do this."

Zora put the Poké Ball in her bag and rose up again. "We will go to Cherrygrove City and put his Poké Ball in an empty box," she said. "That will be our graveyard. If we can get Ho-Oh to resurrect our dead, then we need to have them ready."

Zora's Pokémon looked gloomily at their Trainer. She put everyone in their balls except for Kale. Together, Zora, Sid and Kale returned to Zora's house, and after telling Zora's mother about Sid, they went upstairs and sat on Zora's bed.

As such, Sid began telling Zora about his own journey in Sinnoh, starting a month before his tenth birthday.

Zora listened to his tale, determined to never lose another Pokémon like Bambi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a break here for some time.  
> Now that I have at least completed the Pokémon League the first time, I can get back to write my other stories.  
> Furthermore, at some point after continuing my other stories, I will begin a Platinum Nuzlocke and write another story on it.  
> This time, the story will feature Sid and his journey in Sinnoh. The story will be told slightly differently than here.  
> The story will be called "Cursed Metal".  
> As with this story, I do not know how the Platinum Nuzlocke will go, so I can't actually say for certain if he loses anyone, but given how much harder Platinum is than SoulSilver, I will probably lose some Pokémon.  
> Of all the Pokémon I have, I never expected to lose Bambi, though I did have that particular scenario in mind. I was utterly shocked when he died.  
> See this as the end of a "season".  
> The second season of this story will begin... in some time. After Platinum is over, I believe.  
> I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. Despite Bambi's death, I enjoyed the Nuzlocke as well, and I will do my best to get Ho-Oh and return him to life.  
> Now at least I won't have to focus as much on not losing anyone, since I have already lost one. There may be more deaths from now on, as Zora has just lost her favorite Pokémon.  
> Until next time.
> 
> Current status of Nuzlocke:  
> Badges: 8  
> Live Pokémon: 60  
> Death counter: 1


End file.
